Reflections

 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding
     but delights in airing his own opinions.  Proverbs 18:2 NIV

One of the things I love about the bible is that you can find a scripture that is so relevant to our day.  Recently, I have been amazed at the bias in the media especially with the internet.  It seems that everyone has an opinion and apparently a lot of fools report the news.  Originally, I was not thinking they were fools but once I read this scripture I realized there are a lot of fools out there.

When we are wise we seek understanding so when we approach a topic we should really try and see all sides.  I use the media as an example of foolishness because there was a time that news was balanced – a news story had just the facts and left out opinions.  But now with the 24 hour news channels and the internet, news has become very lopsided and opinionated.  News now has very little fact but a lot of opinion.

So let us not be foolish.  We should always seek to understand.  We should be slow to speak and quick to listen.  We should be open to correction and wise counsel.   We do not always have the right answer or opinion.  There are times we need to just stick with the facts and keep opinions to ourselves.

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¹The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

³Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.

⁹The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:1, 3, 9 and 33

God is sovereign.  Everything happens according to God’s plan and purpose.  We still have the freedom to choose, but God will have His way.  These scriptures should give us great comfort in knowing that we do not live a life of chance or luck.  Our steps are ordered by the Lord.  Nothing happens without God’s involvement.  God is not just a spectator of our lives but He is involved in every detail of our lives. 

God’s existence does not depend on our belief or our understanding.  We exist because God exists.  He is our creator.  Our very being is wrapped up in God.  Apart from Him we can do nothing.  In Him we can do all things. 

So why deny God?  We should know without a doubt that He exists and acknowledge Him in all areas of our lives.  Nothing is hidden from God.  He knows all and sees all.  He is everywhere.  There is no place we can go to escape His presence.  There is no plan we can execute without His involvement.  God has supreme authority in everyone’s life – those who believe and those who don’t.

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Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed. Proverbs 15:22

Have you ever made plans without consulting someone else?  Were you successful?  Often times we make bad decisions when we do not consult with others, especially someone with wisdom on the subject matter.  Our plans can become very frustrated because we have not sought wisdom.  Pride prevents us from seeking the advice of others and can lead to foolish decisions.  God does not expect us to be an island to ourselves and we are encouraged to seek the counsel of others.

When we seek another person’s counsel they can help us in our planning stage.  They can help guide us in the right direction and may see things we do not.  That is why it is so important that we are submitted and accountable to someone.  No matter what our position we all need some type of guidance.  We would be wise to surround ourselves with wise people who give counsel and direction in our lives.

We must be sure to seek wise counsel and not surround ourselves with foolish men.  It would be a mistake for a believer to seek advice from an unbeliever, and this pertains to all areas of our life.  The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God and if someone does not fear God they are not wise – no matter what their area of expertise.

So the next time you make plans to do something be sure to seek wise counsel.  If the Lord has spoken something to you, then two or three witnesses will confirm what the Lord has said.  Wisdom is seeking the counsel of others.

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What the wicked fears will come upon him,
But the desire of the righteous will be granted. Proverbs 10:24

We are told not to be anxious or to worry about anything because God will take care of all our needs.  We are also told not to fear because God does not give us a spirit of fear.  The righteous are given many promises in the bible.  God will never forsake us.

In our humanness we do fear.  There are things we may secretly dread like sickness, disease, calamity, death, suffering, etc.  Remember perfect love cast out all fear because fear has to do with punishment (1 John 4:18).  So we do not have to fear these things coming to pass because God has promised to grant our desires.  The above scripture tells us two things: what the wicked fear will take place, but what the righteous desire will be granted.

We should never focus on what bad things may happen.  Instead we should let our desires be known and let go of our fears.  We must have faith in God and know that He loves us and He will fulfill the desires of our heart.   Life on earth will come with trouble and suffering but we know that this is not the purpose of God in our lives.  He has a hope and a future for us; He has no plans to harm us.  He will give the righteous what they desire, and the wicked will get what they fear.

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⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
       have the wisdom to show restraint.

 5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
       for they will surely sprout wings
       and fly off to the sky like an eagle.  Proverbs 23:4-5

Are you a workaholic?  Here in the United States there are many who spend so much of their time working to pay for the excess of things that they have.  I marvel at people with big homes who cannot enjoy them because they spend most of their hours at work to be able to pay their mortgage.  There are those that must work more than one job to make ends meet, but there are those who work to gain riches.  They wear themselves out trying to get rich.

These people will neglect their families and friends.  They have no time for God, recreation, vacation, church, friends, family or even quiet time for themselves.  It is easy to fall prey to working long hours and justify it in our minds that we are doing it to make money for a better quality of life.  But is our quality of life really better?  What is our work costing us at home and in our relationship with God?

I remember when I worked in Law Enforcement I worked a minimum 50+ hours a week and at times only had one day off.  I was making very good money but felt like my life only involved my job – I worked, ate and slept.  I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on medication all before I turned 30 years old.  I left the field and people said I was foolish because of all the money I gave up.  It was the wisest decision I made because once I left, I got my life back and my health back.  I have a beautiful family that I can focus on and my time with them is more precious than silver and gold.  They are my true riches. 

Do not chase after riches at the expense of your family, your time, your health and God.  God will provide for you.  Chase after true riches – those things that add to your life and money can’t buy.  Imagine if we pursued wisdom the way we pursue riches?   The truth is real wealth is tied to wisdom.

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    Train up a child in the way he should go,
         Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

It is said that by the age of 5, 90% of a child’s personality is already developed.  So a child is greatly influenced by his environment by the age of 5.  Most of the things a child will learn will follow them for the rest of their lives.  It is imperative that we use wisdom in raising our children, and follow what the bible teaches about raising children.

Today we are bombarded with various ideas and opinions on raising children.  Many of today’s conventional wisdom do not agree with what the bible teaches about raising children.  This scripture explains why we must use God’s wisdom in raising children because the way we train them is the way they will go.  If we train them in a godly way they will not depart from it when they are older, they may rebel but they will not depart from their training.

As adults we have a responsibility to the younger generation to train them up in the way of God.  It is not just the responsibility of parents but every adult has a hand in training up children.  There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child and it does.  Our children imitate what they see, they learn by example.  So every adult in a child’s life has influence.  There are many who speak into our children’s lives and we must ensure that we are training them in the way they should go and not allow the television, music or worldly things to influence our children.

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 ⁷ The rich rule over the poor,
       and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7

The 1990s were marked by great prosperity for many people.  The stock market was high and people began buying homes.  Banks made it easy to borrow money to buy a home get a credit card, and other types of loans.  Many people bought things they could not afford and put things on credit or borrowed against their homes.  Even though the US was prospering, in the 1990s people were in more debt than ever before and people were going bankrupt.

Conventional wisdoms tell us to get a credit card to build up out credit and increase our wealth.  But the bible says that by becoming a borrower we actually become slave to the lender.  Many of us cannot do things with our money because we are enslaved to the lender.  All the extra money we get  goes to the Lender.

IT is not wise for us to borrow money to pay for things.  It is not wise to try and keep up with the Jones’.   It is foolish to pay more for a house than what it is worth.   Businesses and retail owners are about profits.  They could care less about your situation, they do care when you are going to pay back your loan.

We even have to be careful who we borrow money from.  Because if we are the lender that person becomes our slave.  If we are the borrower, then we are now a slave.  That’s why friends should never borrow money from other friends.  The relationship will be damaged by relationship of lender/borrower.  If you can’t pay for something then don’t purchase it or borrow money for it.  Make a plan to save the money to buy that item with cash and not with borrowed money.  Friendships have been destroyed because one friend was slave to the other and they ruled over the slave.  We should give money to a friend, but not lend money to a friend.   Being in debt is not wise.

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¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you. Proverbs 9:10-11

Those that are perishing do not fear God.  They actually scoff at Him and deny that He exists.  They have no regard for God and continue to walk in their evil ways.  They are fools.  The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.  God is worthy of our reverence, honor, glory and our praise.  God should be acknowledged above all things.  Before the earth existed wisdom existed with God.  If we desire long life we must walk wisely and in the fear of God.  By knowing God we gain wisdom and understanding.  The ways of the world are foolish, wisdom only comes from God.

God holds our lives in His hands.  He promises us that if we walk in His ways, in wisdom our lives will be prolonged.  No one can have wisdom apart from God.  Even the greatest scholars and philosophers are nothing without God.  Apart from God they are simply fools disguised as intellectuals.  But we who know and fear God are very wise, and will long and prosperous lives.

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⁷“The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding. Proverbs 4:7

Ask God and He will give you wisdom.  Whenever we make decisions we should seek wisdom and get understanding.  God does not want us to make uninformed decisions or foolish ones.  He will equip us with the knowledge that we need to make wise and sound decisions.  We have no excuse.  We should desire wisdom above all things and also get understanding.

The bible arms us with a lot of information in making everyday decisions.  We should take the time to study the word to understand what God says about many situations in our lives.  We will take a look at some areas of our lives that require wisdom and what the bible says about those areas.

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¹Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ²from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.  ³He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.  1 Kings 11:1-3

When Solomon was a child he became king and asked God for wisdom in governing the people.  Because Solomon had asked God for wisdom above riches and long life, God said that King Solomon would be the wisest king ever and also the richest and most honored.  God also told King Solomon that as long as he followed God’s statutes and did not turn his heart away from God then God would prolong his life (see 1 Kings 3: 1-14).  King Solomon was the wisest king ever but he did such a foolish thing, he disobeyed God.  King Solomon lusted and loved after foreign women and took hundreds of them as his wives and for his concubines and they turned his heart away from God.  King’s Solomon’s foolishness cost him the kingdom, God took the kingdom of Israel from Solomon and gave it to Jeroboam instead of Solomon’s son except for one tribe (1 Kings 11).

The wisest thing we can do is obey God.  To disobey God is just foolish.  Many times when we are faced with decisions God tells us which way to go, but if we disobey God we invite disaster and foolishness into our lives.  God expects us to walk in obedience and wisdom, they go hand in hand.  We can’t be wise and not obey what God tells us.  God knows best, it is foolish to think we know best.

We must desire wisdom above all things.  The lust of women got King Solomon in trouble even though God made him the wisest man in the world.  Solomon foolishly chose to disobey God.

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