Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets. (21)Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, (22)How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? (23) Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Proverbs 1:20-23
The Amplified Bible states it like this: Wisdom cries aloud in the street; she raises her voice in the markets; (21) She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks; (22) How long O simple ones [open to evil] , will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self confident] fools hate knowledge?
(23) If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you. I will make my words known to you .
The first words in the Devotional were "It's not easy being a Christian". When I read this, my mind started going in a million different directions. There are so many ways to look at this. First of all, my thoughts returned to a quote that my Wise and learned Pastor has told us more than once. He said, " If you live for God easy it is hard, but if you live for God hard, it is easy. In other words if you will put your whole heart into loving and living for God, it will be easy to do what He expects of you and to obey Him. If a person tries to live for God on their own terms, picking and choosing what they want to obey and not, then it will be hard. The only way we will ever be able to learn God's true meaning of love is through the study of His Word, and obeying His commands. After all, that is what Jesus said. "If you love me, obey my commands".
We have to remember that the closer we are to God and the deeper our relationship is to Him, the easier it will be to live according to His wishes. This ultimately will be the ONLY way we will enter into heaven.
Of course, this is not the only responsibility of a Christian. We have others, such as spreading the gospel of Christ, which in a sense is another way of showing love to our fellow man, by making sure that we let as many people know about Jesus and the Kingdom of God as possible.
I read a post the other day by a Pastor who was talking about being careful about who you listen to about the Word of God because of there being so many false prophets and deceivers out there. That is why I always try to point out that while I feel that it is the duty of a Christian to spread the Gospel just as Jesus told His disciples to do, I would so impress those who read my blog and hear my words of witness, that they will prove me and read their Bibles for themselves as well.
If you are interested in a Wonderful Bible Study of Proverbs, I urge you to check out "Settled in Heaven" by Rob Barkman. I thoroughly enjoy all of his Bible Studies. Another aspect I like is that if I don't feel like reading a lot, I can watch him on YouTube. While we are of different doctrines, I still am able to read his studies, listen to him on YouTube and glean a lot from him. I highly recommend his blog. The Answers to last Sunday's Quiz are as follows: let me apologize for taking so long to get them posted. We have been having problems with our Internet so I have been unable to post until now.
1. c--The lost sheep of Israel
2. a--None
3. d--All things are possible if you have clean hands and a pure heart.
4. a--Even though he performed miracles there, they did not repent.
5. b--To destruction
6. a--To life
7. c--By their "fruit," the way they act.
8. a--A roman officer in Capernaum.
9. b--A woman who had suffered with a hemmorhage ( constant bleeding) for twelve years.
10. b--To heal the daughter of a synagogue leader.
Well, I guess I had better not push my luck. It seems as though our Internet decides to go down on a frequent basis here at the camp around this time, so I had better finish this up before I lose it.
Have a Wonderful day, and May God Bless!
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2 comments:
PJ,
Another posting that was a blessing to me. I especially like your Pastor's take on the Christian life being difficult. It was a blessing.
Thanks so much for mentioning the SIH blog. The Proverbs series is a real blessing for me to study and learn. I am thankful that the posts have been a blessing to you as well. Lord bless you PJ.
I hope you and your husband are enjoying the warmer weather.... the older I get the more I ache and the more I think of trying to find a warmer location for my family! You are an inspiration!
Take care.
Hi PJ
Another very thought provoking post.
Sure, Jesus did say on one occasion, "If you want life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17.)
But the other side of the truth is that as children of God, we already have eternal life, and we are already seated with him in Heaven (John 6:47, Ephesians 1, Romans 8, etc.)
In short, we are going to heaven because of who we are, and not on what we do. Instead we desire to walk in God's ways because of what he has already done, saving us by crucifying with his flesh all the sins we have and will ever commit.
No wonder that in us and through us, it is God himself who gets all the glory.
God bless,
Frank.
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