foolishness

Wisdom Seeker: Day 13

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Proverbs 13

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 13:20

A couple of these stood out to me today. I’ll keep it pretty brief.

First, this reminder that it truly does matter who we choose to surround ourselves with. Yes, yes, I know – Jesus was a friend of sinners. I’ve heard it, too – loads of times. More on that in a second.

For now, I want to state for the record that I am in no way suggesting you completely ditch your atheistic friends or refuse to ever go visit your former college roommate who has embraced New Age and is always going on about the energy of a place while waving around crystals and oils and stuff.

After all, if you truly love them, don’t you want to see them come to know and love our Lord? Doesn’t love want the best for the beloved, and can you think of anything better than eternal life in the presence of the Almighty?

Bringing the Gospel of salvation through Christ to those who do not know Him is our primary function here on earth, so share freely and liberally with them! Which reminds me – I have a phone call to make.

BUT… remember that to say, “Jesus was a friend of sinners” is the same thing as saying, “Jesus befriended human beings.” He is literally the only person whose feet ever struck the soil of planet earth that never sinned. So yes, He associated with sinners.

And all the while He talked, dined, and taught them about the Kingdom of God. He called some of them a “brood of vipers.” He taught that if we have two sets of garments, we should give one to someone in need.

He told us that to follow Him, we would have to take up our crosses, and He never flinched at saying, “Go and sin no more,” or reminding His followers that persecution would come. In fact, He said and did many shocking and uncomfortable things to those sinners He “hung out” with.

He also lived a sinless life, then willingly took on Himself the inconceivable heaviness and darkness of all our sin, then suffered the wrath of God on our behalf. He gave up His life in one of the most brutal methods of execution humanity has yet conceived to pay the price of our sin. My sin. Yours.

So if we are going to pattern ourselves after Him – and we should! – let’s just go all the way and not stop at “hanging out” with “sinners” (as if we are excluded from that group -haha!). Let’s love them enough to lay down our lives for them…

But I digress. The proverb is more a warning not to habitually surround ourselves with the foolish – those who choose the world over Christ. We may need to bear witness to them, but we need solid, Godly companionship to hold us accountable, to confront us when we stray from the Truth, and to pray for us and with us all the while.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

2 Corinthians 6:14

So much for brevity. Let me just say that verse 24 hits me every time, too. I’m so thankful my Father has never spared the rod from me. This is one way I know He loves me.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

Oh my King, how thankful I am that You came to save me, a sinner! Never let me lose sight of the wonder of that. I welcome Your discipline, for though it may sting for a bit, in the end it is what keeps me from evil and corrects me when I stray from the path to eternal life!

Wisdom Seeker: Days 11-12

~ Heather Davis ~ 2 Comments

Proverbs 11 and 12

Missed a day. It was bound to happen, especially since I often take a tech break on Sundays. But I’ll try to do two brief ones today, even though there’s a lot of good stuff in these two chapters. First:

The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

Proverbs 11:18

Now there’s a good reminder for the weary soldier of the Lord and a convicting dart for the one who cares nothing for the King of kings.

Yes, wickedness seems to prosper here on earth. Often, there are very greedy, very nasty people who do quite well for themselves. They amass wealth and live in comfort – even in decadence.

But it is oh, so deceptive. Even if they make it through this whole life lolling on the very lap of luxury, there’s nothing pleasant for them in eternity. And eternity is long enough to make even the longest earthly lifespan count for nothing.

Unfortunately, however, the lap of luxury isn’t even all that comfortable here on earth. A look at the headlines will tell you how unsatisfied those who recline there seem to be. Divorces, suicides, and all sorts of substance abuse problems… those are not the problems of a happy and healthy spirit. Just sayin’.

Next:

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 12:1, 15

It’s hard to choose just two here. That one about rash words like sword thrusts… ouch! I’m afraid I’ve been convicted by that one once or seventeen million times.

Still, today I want to focus on the humility needed to realize we just don’t know it all. Verse one uses some pretty strong language to describe the person who hates being corrected. Stupid.

That was the dreaded “S-word” when my kids were small. Not a nice thing to say, maybe, but utterly true. Hating correction means a person is uncorrectable. And that means that they’re likely to march right through the wide gate to destruction with their eyes tightly closed and chin stubbornly raised high.

So I don’t know about you, but I’m not planning on being all too sure about belting helter-skelter down the path of my own making. Nah, I’ll pick up the Word of God every day and look for advice, and I’ll spend time seeking the wisdom of Godly men and women who are older than me.

Sounds a little bit safer and a lot less stupid.

Father, thank You for words of wisdom; for words that sting and remind us of our need for You. Thank You for keeping us humble. Please, as we search these ancient proverbs, bring them to life for us and help us to hear the very words that point out the sins we need to address each day, amen.

Wisdom Seeker: Day 9

~ Heather Davis ~ 2 Comments

Proverbs 9

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

Proverbs 9:8

Today’s reading begins with Wisdom personified as a woman and ends with Folly, similarly illustrated. Both women offer the same invitation: “Whoever is simple, turn in here!”

And in between the two, a few nuggets of truth to help us understand which direction we lean. Are we the scoffer who rejects correction and resents the one who corrects him?

Or are we the wise person who appreciates correction and responds in gratitude and love?

Not much else to say today. Just a couple of questions for us each to prayerfully ponder in our hearts.

Loving Father, we know that You discipline those You love, and we love You for it. Show us today where we are behaving like scoffers, ignoring correction and blundering straight into Folly’s house. Change our hearts from arrogance to humility that we may accept rebuke and be improved by it, amen.