Overview of: ProverbsToday's Reading:
Proverbs 15 - 19
Focus Verses: Proverbs 19:2-3
2 It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way. 3 A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
Insight:
Proverbs is a book about wisdom. It's also a book about foolishness. It explains the way of the wise, and it also describes the way of fools. In today's reading alone, the way of becoming a fool is exposed as: spurning discipline, failing to listen, dishonoring parents, hating correction, telling lies, manipulating others, starting fights, loving quarrels, gushing careless words, being arrogant, despising the poor, condemning the innocent, acquitting the guilty, being lazy and selfish, disregarding instruction, losing your temper, and failing to seek God's counsel.
To miss the way of wisdom and to become a fool is easy if we have zeal without knowledge. It is foolish to be so excited about our own ideas and ambitions that we fail to seek God's counsel and guidance. We ruin our lives when we follow our own selfish desires and make our own stupid mistakes. And then, we increase our folly if we blame God for the mess we're in.
Wise people take ownership of their mistakes and learn from them. Fools blame others and God. Wise people see the ways they have brought trouble upon themselves. Fools whine in denial and shake their fists at God.
Response and Action:
I do not want to be a fool or to be blind to my own sin and stupidity. I will take responsibility for my mistakes. Instead of blaming God for my problems, I will ask God to show me the error of my ways. I will humble myself, listen, accept correction, follow instruction, honor those who are older and wiser, avoid laziness and selfishness, tell the truth, be gracious toward others, love integrity more than comfort, and seek to honor God in word, thought, and deed.
O God, forgive me for the times I blame you for my problems. Forgive me for the ways I rationalize my sin and show disregard for your counsel. Forgive me for the ways I seek comfort and possessions instead of seeking truth and righteousness. Give me the wisdom and the will to love truth, to walk in your ways, and to live with integrity. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Give me the courage and honesty to recognize my own ignorance and weakness. Give me the desire and wisdom to take hold of your perfect knowledge and strength. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
New Testament for Today: Romans 1:29-32
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
In Context: Romans 1:18 - 2:16
Recommended Reading:
The Smell of Sin: And the Fresh Air of Grace
by Don Everts
