the wall

Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
Proverbs 25:28

I try to read a Proverbs a day from the Bible. I also like reading out of the New Testament as well but I start my day with Proverbs. I think I like Proverbs because I am a pragmatic person. So it is helpful to me to get advice and when it is sound advice it is that much better.

I read this Proverbs this morning from my hotel room in Las Vegas. I am out here doing some networking and coaching. It is a city with a lot of light. I flew in last night very late and it is quite wild as you fly in. You see nothing because you are in the middle of a dessert and then all of a sudden when the Captain says we are starting our descent you see lights and lights and more lights. As you land you see the famous strip and you see big buildings with more lights. You get off of the plane and you have all kind of slot machine options. You go to you hotel and you have more options on how to invest your dollar. You have shows. You have girls. You have guys. You have games. You have all kinds of options and choices. I have noticed this before when I travel to this great city. I say great because it is an interesting and fun place for sure. You have to go see the Hoover Dam if you get this far west. I think people change when they fly into this city. There inhibitions do not come with them. In their mind they have permission from within to act on their impulses and to let it all hang out. Even our pilot said last night: "What you do in Vegas stays in Vegas". I think he knows. While I am on Vegas let me jump across the ocean 9 time zones away to my home in Spain.

I never understood what a lot of these bible metaphors meant until I lived abroad and especially in a country that is so old. As you travel Spain you will get to know the landscape and you will come to understand that wherever there seems to be a rise in the elevation of land there is a castle with a wall around it and then usually a city built around it. I love looking at castles and walls and perhaps my favorite city is Avila which is about an hour outside of Madrid. It is a walled city and it is in tact and at night time if you drive into Avila it is like going into a storybook. The wall is lit up and you really get the sense that you are in the old world.

As you walk around the city and look around the city you see how important that wall is for protection. If it breaks down at any point then the enemy can come through. Most of the time from what I know the enemy would always to try to strike it the walls most vulnerable point. I also watched the Lord of the Rings to figure that out as well.

I think this is the picture that Proverbs 25:28 paints for me today. It is about a wall. A wall that is to protect the city but it is broken down. And because the wall is broken down it can be captured. The bible says that about our lives. If we lack self control then we are like that city with a broken down wall. I think about that today as I am in Vegas. I place where no doubt temptation lies in wait. But we should think about this not just in Vegas but everyday wherever we live. For if we do not have self control then we will not make good choices and this can go to every area of our life. (Especially since I just ate a huge buffet breakfast for 3.99.)

later