SCRIPTURE
"All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast." (Proverbs 15:15)
OBSERVATION
The writer of Proverbs seems to paint a black and white scenario. There are people who are oppressed and people who are cheerful. Are there such extremes in life? Perhaps he is trying to show us that the perspective we take on life influences how we live that life. Jesus came to free us. He came to "proclaim freedom for the prisoners." If anyone is oppressed it is people in prison (not necessarily a physical prison but a prison of slavery, fear, self-doubt, and sin). Jesus throws open the cell doors and sets us free.
In Christ, we are no longer oppressed by the law of sin, the sinful nature, or the enemy. Greater is he that is in us than the one that is in the world. If we have been set free we have a different outlook on life. We experience the joy of the Lord, i.e. "a cheerful heart." When we view life from the perspective of freedom (instead of oppression) we do have a continual feast. We see the joy in creation, we see the value in relationships, and we understand that this world is not our final home. It's like everyday is a visit to the Golden Corral. God has blessed us because his intent toward his creation is good.
APPLICATION
When I watch the news it is always bad. It continually shows people who are stressed, depressed, and oppressed. But as I was watching this morning I had this thought: "These are the exceptions rather than the rule." The reason it is newsworthy is because it is not happening to everyone. It's easier to report the few that it actually happens to rather than the many it doesn't (all of the good news would make for a very long newscast). Not every teacher is having sex with her students, not every world leader is a dictator, not every bank is failing, and on and on it goes. Jesus has set me free. As a former "harassed and helpless sheep", he is my shepherd. Whom shall I fear? No one. Life is a continual feast because I'm standing in the place of freedom. Over generalization (everything is bad, all of the time, all day long) is oppression. Yes, every once-in-a-while I get a taste of something awful, but that doesn't negate the great stuff in the rest of the meal. Today I choose to take another trip to the buffet.
PRAYER
Lord, sometimes the things of this life can weigh me down. Not that there aren't those situations but when I focus solely on them I forget the bounty you have laid before me today. Help me to see you in the continual feast of this life.
