Save Dali

Proverbs 27:26-27 KJV — The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.

Take stock of the assets at your disposal, and ask the question: what is this for?

Maybe you’re making Shepherd’s pie out of that which is there to clothe you and source a clothing business.

Maybe you’re sitting in a cramped apartment surrounded by stuff that would easily pay for acres of land and a country mansion and enough employees to help you run the place.

Look at what you have and ask: what is this for?

Your wealth and riches are somewhere in your house.

Proverbs 26:20 KJV — Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.

Keep throwing wood on the fire.

Whatever you’re passionate about, do the work of chopping down trees to fuel what you care about.

Passion requires nurturing.

Hebrews 12:2 KJV — Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Keep moving forward. Keep showing up. Keep taking actions on what’s in your heart. Keep imagining the future you hope for. Keep seeing yourself the way God sees you. Keep your heart immersed in God’s love for you. Keep taking risks on behalf of what you care about. Keep daring greatly in the face of overwhelming odds. Keep dancing with the tension between obscurity and greatness. Keep exploring the nuance of the soil beneath the ground. Keep growing where you were buried. Keep putting down a root system. Keep yourself nailed to the cross: “it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.”

Proverbs 24:1 KJV — Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

Don’t eat those poisonous mushrooms.

And.

Don’t envy evil men.

A simple instruction to save your life.

Don’t do it.

Future You thanks you.

Proverbs 23:17 KJV — Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

Some things need to be kept in the fridge in order to preserve them. If you don’t, then they will spoil and perish.

Your heart needs to be kept in the X of the Lord.

Under the Old Covenant, X = fear.

Under the New Covenant, X = love.

Keep your heart in the love of the Lord all the day.

That’s the antidote to envy.

You don’t have time for envy when you’re spending 24 hours immersed in how much God loves you.

Proverbs 22:19 KJV — That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.

Put your trust in the Lord.

In everything.

That’s the whole point.

Trust in the Lord. He won’t let you down.

He loves you.

Proverbs 21:23 KJV — Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

If you do nothing else, watch your mouth.

Keep it on a tight leash. Don’t drive it like an automatic. Don’t fire it like a machine gun.

Treat it like a musket or a rifle, where each shot must be manually loaded and fired.

The work this takes cost less than the trouble you’ll avoid.

Proverbs 20:4 KJV — The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

No matter what, make sure you plow.

There will always be reasons not to plow. But reasons don’t help you at harvest time when you haven’t plowed and sowed.

Ignore the excuses that are masquerading as reasons.

Plow the field, no matter how cold it is.

Proverbs 19:8 KJV — He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.

Get wisdom. Keep understanding.

You need to do both.

Proverbs 18:9 KJV — He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

You have permission to work.

Work isn’t “a job” or “a career”.

Work is the ideas, projects or obsessions that are burning in your heart, waiting for you to show up and Work on them.

Even if nobody else recognises it, this is your Work.

You have permission to do it on purpose and without slothfulness.