Life Application Buts
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Proverbial But O’ the Week: Restraint
A fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, BUT the lips of the wise protect them. (Proverbs 14:3) Words have consequences long after they leave our mouths. Proverbs reminds us that foolish speech has a way of circling back and hurting the person who spoke it, while wisdom knows that sometimes the safest word is the… Continue reading
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The Pivot: But Ruth …
“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you… Your people will be my people and your God my God.’” Orpah leaves. Naomi tells Ruth to follow her, to return to her people and the life she has known. But Ruth… With those two words, the story pivots. Ruth chooses Naomi. She chooses Naomi’s people. And most importantly,… Continue reading
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But God Remembered
There are three words at the beginning of Genesis 8 that may be among the most hopeful in the entire story of Noah: But God remembered. To feel their weight, we have to back up one sentence—the close of chapter seven. “The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.” And then: “But God remembered Noah and… Continue reading
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But Their Hearts Were Far From Me
There are passages of Scripture that invite us to wonder because they describe something spectacular—a sea divided, fire falling from heaven, a storm silenced with a word. Then there are passages that invite us to wonder because they turn our expectations upside down. First Corinthians 1:18–25 does the latter. And, fittingly enough, Paul uses three… Continue reading
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A Look in the Mirror
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the… Continue reading
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Proverbial But O’ the Week: Integrity
He whose walk is upright fears the LORD, BUT he whose ways are devious despises him. (Proverbs 14:2) To fear the LORD is not simply to speak reverently about God. Proverbs says it becomes visible in the way we walk. An upright life grows from a heart that takes God seriously—choosing honesty, humility, faithfulness, and… Continue reading
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But Chosen by God
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him…”—1 Peter 2:4 Sometimes the difference between what we see and what God sees is enormous. First Peter 2:4–10 is teeming with buts—five of them in seven verses. And Peter uses those little conjunctions to tell a much bigger story about… Continue reading
