Anna Brownell Jameson is credited with the saying, "Modesty and chastity are twins." Of course, we know the Scriptures would support such an ideal—modesty representing what we show to the world, chastity representing what we withhold from the world. There are several applications for these twin ideas: wealth, status, and clothing … a more sensitive topic, however, would be that of sexuality. The societal depiction of womanhood is askew. At the time, we would say that men were

Proverbs 22:4, "The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life." Solomon would pass these words on to his son, the audience of the book of Proverbs. I would imagine that Solomon had seen this lesson repeated in his life and in his father's stories. But it would seem viable that he learned this in the story of his ancestry. Solomon was the great-great-grandson of Ruth, the noble Moabite woman who would marry Boaz of Bethlehem. Ruth was forced into wi

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” - J.R.R. Tolkien How true it is that when the road becomes darkened, faithfulness, loyalty dissipates like the morning dew. Such is the recurring narrative of life. Not merely in our time, but for all of human history. The first humans to experience the threat of consequence turned on each other (Gen 3:12). The chosen people of God would turn against Him at the first signs of inconvenience (Ex 17:3). Even as pressure

"You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." These are the words of our beloved, round, honey-feeding friend, Winnie The Pooh. These words have motivated generations to believe in their capabilities. From time to time, like the ebb and flow of the ocean, there are feelings of inadequacy and incapability. Such was the case for an eighty-year-old Moses. Moses experienced a surge of confidence when he decided to identify with his people a

John Ruskin is quoted as saying, “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.” Such a fitting quote this is when we consider the labor of Moses. Moses was called from the simplicity of shepherding s heep to the strenuous work of shepherding a people. His work of leading the people of Israel undoubtedly had its moments of pleasure, but certainly had its trying moments. Moses stood for the benefit of the people of Israel. When