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Category: Wisdom

Over the Top

Over the Top

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Over the Top--winding stairway at Biltmore EstatesTo get to the top floor of a house, we usually climb stairs. To go over the top of the house requires more work – extreme efforts. Most of us would be foolish to try.

Over the top often means to go beyond acceptable behavior.

 We describe such actions as:

  • Extreme
  • Reckless
  • Strange
  • Shameful
  • Foolish

Over the top occasionally means brave behavior.

Some soldiers in battle go over the top of their trenches. They leave safety to attack their enemy. That action puts them at greater risk for losing their lives.

Yet, those soldiers:

  • Value the battle’s purpose more than personal safety
  • Go beyond the call of duty
  • Take the risk for a greater cause

They are willing to die for what they believe. Because of such bravery, we celebrate our country’s independence on the Fourth of July.

Let’s choose our behavior carefully.

When we need to be careful, stay wise as an owl. However, when we need to be brave, go over the top.

“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him” (Psalm 37:23 NIV).

Thanks to Karen Atwood for the suggestion.

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Use Your Head for More Than a Hat Rack

Use Your Head for More Than a Hat Rack

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Use Your Head for More Than a Hat Rack--a hat rack with two hatsDr. Seuss wrote, “With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.”

Similar to Dr. Seuss’s words, we may say “Use your head for more than a hat rack.

Use your head for more than a hat rack tells us to think.

Similar expressions include:

  • Use your head for something besides a hat rack.
  • Use your head for more than something to keep your ears apart.

People might say this to us if we:

  • Start to make a foolish choice
  • Fail to see a clear answer to a problem
  • Need to think harder
  • Have our head in the clouds

One of my high school teachers often said, “Think, just think!” I was thinking — maybe not hard enough.

When we use our head for more than a hat rack, we make better choices.

Letting others decide for us looks easy. However, their choices may lead us the wrong direction. We want to make the right choices – to mind our Ps and Qs.

People who love us and want the best for us encourage us to think.

They refuse to let us waste our God-given abilities. To keep us on the straight and narrow, they expect us to learn from:

  • Spoken words
  • Written words
  • Good examples
  • Every experience

Learn well in order to live well.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5 NIV).

Thanks to Mina Raulston for the suggestion. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

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Your Guess Is as Good as Mine

Your Guess Is as Good as Mine

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Your Guess Is as Good as Mine-two small girls shrugging with hands upSomeone asks a question. We don’t know the answer. What do we do? We may say, “You’re guess is as good as mine.”

 Your guess is as good as mine means we have no idea.

We don’t know any more than the person who asked the question. Neither of us can figure out what to do.

When we don’t know answers, we find someone who does.

We look for people wise as an owl. They may not know everything, but they know more than we do. Such wisdom often comes from older people, but not always. Occasionally it comes out of the mouths of babes.

No one but God knows all things.

We cannot possibly learn everything in our short lives. We do the best we can. However, we still make guesses in many situations.

God never guesses. God knows.

The one and only Creator of all things is:

  • All powerful
  • Always present
  • All knowing

Trust God for answers that never fail.

“The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25 NIV).

Thanks to Laurel Blevins for the suggestion and to Rita Smalley for the photo.

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Food for Thought

Food for Thought

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Food for Though-fruit trayFood for thought means something to consider.

What we consider may come from:

  • Our own minds
  • Something we see or read
  • An event
  • Another person (They offer information, or we pick their brain.)

All make us think about an idea.

Much like we digest food in our stomachs, we digest food for thought in our minds.

The digestion process may be easy or hard. We enjoy easy thoughts. However, we probably gain more from the hard ones.

Food we eat may give us food for thought.

Most of us enjoy food. It fills our stomachs and takes away our hunger. In addition, food offers:

  • Fellowship
  • Comfort
  • Fun
  • Learning opportunities

Some people have slim pickings in food. Others of us enjoy more food than we need. Rather than keeping it all for ourselves, perhaps we should consider giving more away. What better way to show an attitude of gratitude?

By sharing with others, our thoughts become action.

Please comment below with your ideas for putting thoughts into actions.

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

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You Made Your Bed, You Must Lie in It

You Made Your Bed, You Must Lie in It

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You Made Your Bed--bed in The Elms (R. I.)You made your bed, you must lie in it has nothing to do with making a bed. The expression focuses on behavior.

You have to live with the results of what you do.

  • Good choices bring good results.
  • Bad choices bring bad results.

If you cause problems, expect problems in your life. If you share joy, expect joy in return.

 Of course, exceptions to the rule occur. However, you usually experience the natural or logical effects of your actions. You did it, so you must live with it.

Several expressions have the same meaning.

Whether you talk about beds, gardens, music, or chickens, the message remains the same. For the best life, make the best choices.

“When you see trouble coming, don’t be stupid and walk right into it— be smart and hide” (Proverbs 22:3 CEV).

Thanks to Bonnie Alley for the suggestion.

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End of the Road

End of the Road

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End of the Road--setting sun at end of a roadWhile on a trip, many of us look forward to the end of the road.

Once we hit the trail, we can hardly wait to get where we are going. We want to spend most of our time there.

If we ride a bus or train, we might talk about the end of the line. The road or line stops, so the bus or train cannot go farther.

The end of the road means the conclusion or final step.

This expression may refer to the end of a:

  • Trip
  • Process
  • Activity

Often the end of the road refers to death, the end of life’s journey.

We kick the bucket. We are graveyard dead.

On Memorial Day, we remember and honor those who died in service for our country.

Many of us look forward to the end of life’s journey.

We enjoy life. However, we know when we reach the end of life’s road, we step into our eternal home in heaven.

On a trip, people may follow the sun for physical direction. To receive a home in heaven, we follow the Son for spiritual direction. Jesus, God’s Son, offers life and purpose both now and at the end of the road.

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life” (John 3:36 NIV).

Thanks to Janis Atwood for the photo

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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Cool as a Cucumber

Cool as a Cucumber

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Cool as a Cucumber--sliced cucumberSome people stay cool as a cucumber.

Whether good times or bad, they remain calm.

Cucumbers are mostly water, which keeps them cool. A slice of cucumber in a glass of water provides cool refreshment on a hot summer day.

However, cool as a cucumber does not refer to a cool temperature. It means people who rarely get upset.

  • Plans don’t go their way. They make other plans.
  • People mistreat them. They still treat those people well.
  • Losses occur. They give thanks for what they had.

They live an easy-does-it life and look for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Few things get them down.

When they do get down, they soon rise again and keep going. They know that nothing in this life lasts forever. Therefore, they make the most of the moments they have.

Cool as a cucumber people spread peace.

By staying calm and peaceful, they help people around them stay calm and peaceful.

Peace that never fails can be found when anyone lets go and lets God.

“[God’s] peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 TLB).

Thanks to Janna Babak for the suggestion.

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Ox in the Ditch

Ox in the Ditch

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Ox in the Ditch--cow in water behind treesMy friend Phyllis recently had an ox in the ditch. She and her husband dressed for church. Then they noticed a cow having trouble birthing its calf. Their cow needed help. Putting first things first, they helped their animals. They arrived at church late but with an attitude of gratitude for a healthy cow and calf.

An ox in the ditch is not usually an ox.

Examples of an ox in the ditch include:

  • Sick people who need a doctor
  • Crime victims who need the police
  • Buildings on fire that need firefighters

An ox in a ditch means an emergency.

 The need demands:

  • Immediate action
  • Total attention

A great need replaces a good plan.

The Bible says Jesus healed a sick person on the Sabbath. Work was forbidden on days of worship. However, Jesus asked if people would not pull an ox from a ditch (or well) on the Sabbath. Another time Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27 NIV).

God expects people to rest and worship one day a week. However, God also expects believers to put feet to their prayers – to meet needs when they arise.

“Then [Jesus] asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” (Luke 14:5 NIV).

Thanks to Phyllis Patton for the suggestion and Bart Woodrum for the photo.

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Consider the Source

Consider the Source

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Consider the Source--Bonneville Salt Flats
Bonneville Salt Flats

Before we trust anyone or anything, we consider the source.

 We do not want to:

  • Eat food from a garbage can
  • Buy a car from a junk store
  • Drink water from a lake filled with salt

We usually trust what was good, safe, and trustworthy in the past.

However, if anything has not been good, safe, or trustworthy, we do not trust them now.

The same applies to people.

Have they:

  • Made many mistakes? If so, we will not ask their help.
  • Proved themselves trustworthy? If so, we usually trust them.
  • Hurt others? If so, we fear they may hurt us.

Consider the source is often a warning.

It tells us to be careful.

If we want others to trust us, we must prove worthy of their trust.

We build a reputation by every:

  • Choice we make
  • Action we take
  • Word we say
  • Attitude we show

May others always know us as a source worthy of their trust – as good as our word.

“What a wonderful God we have—he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 TLB).

Thanks to Becky Nash Rowe for the suggestion

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Preaching to the Choir

Preaching to the Choir

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Preaching to the choir--church choir in robesPastors don’t need to convince believers to accept Jesus. That would be like preaching to the choir. Believers have already made that choice.

Preaching to the choir means trying to get people to accept an idea they already believe.

 Why try to convince them when they:

  • Share the same opinion
  • Support the same cause

Some people compare this to kicking an open door. The door stands open. No one needs to kick or knock on it.

  • Doctors don’t need to be told people get sick.
  • Teachers don’t need to be told children’s minds wander.
  • Judges don’t need to be told people break the law.

They already know that.

Preaching to the Choir--children and adultsTo spread a message, the messenger must go to those who:

  • Have not heard it
  • Do not believe it
  • Need to learn more about it

Preaching to the Choir--children's choirOf course, people enjoy sharing the same beliefs. Choir members sing and praise God with other believers. True worship makes them all ears to God’s message. It warms the cockles of their hearts.

However, they also take their message outside the church. They want to share it with people who have not heard.

“The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled’” (Luke 14:23 ESV).

Thanks to Darrin Jenkins for the suggestion and to Campbellsville Baptist Church and Joan Tinnell for the photos.

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