Clouds and wind, but no rain

A man boasting himself in a false gift is like clouds and wind, but no rain. (Pro 25:14 MKJV)

Clouds and wind without rain is something that we in the deserts of the southwest are are fully acquainted with. During the monsoon (fancy name for rainy season), we get a great display of weather, usually in the afternoons.  Great thunderheads build over the mountain tops and all around. The wind picks up and you can perhaps even smell the promise of moisture, nourishment, plant growth, and a little bit cooler weather. 

It causes disappointment when all that meteorologic activity fails to produce anything other than high heat and humidity. In this part of the world, that disappointment is especially poignant, considering the typical aridness of the region.

Here, King Solomon compares natural events to human failings. Like clouds and wind, a big talker builds big expectations. We can all think of someone who has crossed our paths that remind us of this idiom. Perhaps we have actually been that person.  Lord help us from our pathetic ways!

A word, borrowed from that FOX news luminary, Bill O'Reilly, is 'bloviation'. To bloviate, means to: Orate verbosely and windily. This term seems to fit this Biblical similitude to a tee.  Do we do that in our daily testimony?  Heaven forfend!

It as been aptly said that 80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the people.  While not necessarily a scientific conclusion, it does seem to point to an underlying principle.  No matter where you go, there seems to be dead weight enough to provide enough drag to eventually slow down any movement of God's Spirit in any church.

Jude, the younger brother of our Lord put it like this:

These are sunken rocks in your love feasts, feasting together with you; feeding themselves without fear; waterless clouds being carried about by winds; fruitless autumn trees, having died twice, having been plucked up by the roots; wild waves of the sea foaming up their shames; wandering stars for whom blackness of darkness has been kept forever. (Jud 1:12-13 MKJV) 

This paints a gloomy picture of these types of people.  We will be examining this verse in greater detail in the next few blog posts.  But for now, the message is cautionary; Don't BE that person!  I don't want to be, and I dare say that many that are, do not, in their heart of hearts want to be either.

For more on this, stay tuned the the next post.  We shall continue!