Ezekiel 28-31

The messages in these chapters were for the neighboring nations and cities that scorned Israel: Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt.

Apparently the king of Tyre thought he was a god…or at least he acted like one.  But from there the message shifts to one that sounds a lot like Satan’s beginnings…he’s a beautiful, wise and power angelic guardian at the mountain of God who becomes too proud and begins seeing himself as a god.  So the Lord threw him to the ground and banished him from the mountain.

I’ve heard the story before, but today a verse jumped out at me:

Your wisdom was corrupted
by your love of splendor.

Ouch.  I like nice things.  When we go on vacation, I like staying at nice places.  I like having a nice home and a nice car, and I pay a little extra at the store for organic foods.  Does this mean that I have a love of splendor?  In our homeschooling journey, I’m on a quest for wisdom.  We are looking for it in the Word.  I need to examine whether my preference for things that are “nice” is corrupting wisdom that comes from the Lord.

Let it not be so, Lord!

One thing I am learning at this point in my life is to NOT give voice to every thought that rambles across my brain.  Part of this reticence on my part is due to the random skatterbrained state of my mind, but the other part is because I am becoming more aware of my words and how often I use them to comment on (and thus complain about) things I notice that are wrong, out of place, in disrepair, or in an otherwise negative fashion.  If I mention something negative — even in an offhanded way with no real thought — my husband tends to blame himself or think that I am angry.  For example, if I mention that the restaurant has a bulb out in a light fixture or that there are crumbs on the floor or that my food is a bit too peppery for my taste…he thinks  that means I’m having a horrible time and that I can never be pleased about anything.

I am so sorry for this aspect of my personality.  I come across as a big complainer when really I have just been trying to make conversation without giving a thought to how negative my conversation appears.

So, I’m asking the Lord to help me censor my words…but not just my words.  I want my heart and my eyes to refocus on the good and not so much on the bad. It’s a new way of viewing the world, and a scary way for a germaphobe like me.

But the alternative is not the way I want to go.  I do not want my wisdom corrupted because of a love of splendor.  I want God to teach me to see His splendor wherever I go and in whatever circumstance I find myself in.