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Where Are You Headed?


Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise. (Proverbs 11:29)  

          People complain bitterly if they are told that they, or anyone they know, is going to hell. How dare you say such a thing? How judgmental! As I’ve said before, however, if you’re heading north on 301 out of Zephyrhills and I tell you that you’re going to Dade City, I’m simply giving you a fact. It’s not my choice. I’m not sending you there. That is simply the next city you reach. If you go west from Zephyrhills, you’ll reach the Gulf of Mexico. If you go east, eventually, you’ll reach the Atlantic Ocean. Today’s passage has two statements that are not judgments. They are facts.
          In the first, bring ruin on a family is not getting less than straight As, or a teenager getting pregnant. The idea is not that if you do anything bad, you’ll be disinherited. The idea is more honest than that. If you bring ruin – if you destroy your family, its relationships, its finances, etc., there is nothing left to inherit but wind.  If your family has a million dollars, and your legal bills add up to 1.5 million dollars, how are you going to inherit anything? 
          In the second, the person who doesn’t understand the way the universe works or tries to dictate reality will always end up the servant of the person who does understand the way things work and works within that reality. If you insist that you’re not going to Dade city, but to Buenos Aires, you’re not going to end up where you want to go. You won’t accomplish what you set out to accomplish. The one who heads to the Tampa airport stands a better chance. If one consistently fails to accomplish what one wants, generally speaking, one is likely to end up working for someone who doesn't fail.

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