Spiritual wisdom helps us to make the decisions that we need to make in our lives. Unfortunately, not everyone makes good decisions. This daily devotional looks at how spiritual wisdom leads us to be sensible and the consequences of not being sensible.
Nuggets
- Sometimes, we try to equate simple with sensible, but it isn’t always.
- What non-believers don’t realize is that sin is what caused all of the strife that is in the world today.
- We may think we know others, but we see only what they choose to let us see.
- God is allowing people free will at the present time, but that isn’t always going to be the case.
We have been looking at various passages in Proverbs. Solomon has been instructing his son so he could grow in knowledge about God.
That instruction can also help us to grow. Let’s take a look about what Solomon has to tell us in Proverbs 14.
Let's Put It into Context
Wisdom is knowledge, discernment, and good sense that leads to goodness and virtue, which can be applied to life.
So far, Solomon has told us
- It isn’t enough to just have the wisdom — head knowledge isn’t enough.
- Our wisdom has to align with God’s if we are going to flourish in the world.
- We are righteous because we are free from sin by following God’s moral laws.
- Wisdom is to be prized above religion.
- We get to where God wants us to be by using wisdom to reason out what He is wanting us to understand as we seek Him.
- Only God gives us lasting wealth and righteousness.
- The results of wisdom are a closer relationship with God.
- God judge us daily because He hates sin.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
The Sensible Person
“The sensible person’s wisdom is to consider his way, but the stupidity of fools deceives them” (Prov. 14: 8 CSB)
“The inexperienced one believes anything, but the sensible one watches his steps” (Prov. 14: 15 CSB)
Simple. It hasn’t been simple. The world had gotten so complicated.
Just try to get a new computer. That is anything but simple. Or a new phone. Once we are forced into the switch, we generally want to throw up our hands in defeat before it is over.
But it feels like God has given us a do over, doesn’t it? Slow down. Reconnect with family. Reconnect with Him.
Sometimes, we try to equate simple with sensible. It isn’t always. Sensible is having a good reasoning process. Simple is more of an innocence or modesty.
Both of these verses talk about a sensible person. A sensible person makes their choices through wisdom or prudence.
These Sunday Morning Bible Study devotions have been all about wisdom. It has been a while since we talked about prudence. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, prudence is “the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason.”
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So, there is a difference between wisdom and prudence. Wisdom is the ability to judge the qualities. Prudence is how we discipline ourselves to use that wisdom. It is practical judgment.
I think that this ties back into our composure series. God doesn’t want us to hit the extremes – either good or bad. He wants us to be even keeled.
When we are, people can recognize our consistency in character. Parker wrote, “No character is more admirable than that which is marked by simplicity and consequent trustfulness; it is only because the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and the courses of this world are so much out of line, that simplicity is not only undervalued, but sometimes contemned.”
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The verses bring out another important concept. We are supposed to plan our lives, not just go with the flow. “… consider his way …” (Prov. 14: 8 CSB) and “… watches his steps” (Prov. 14: 15 CSB).
Oh, yes. God may have – and often does – have other plans for us. But if we plan for the future, we are looking to Him for guidance as to where He is taking us.
We know that – wherever that will be – is going to be good for His kingdom and us. “‘For I know the plans I have for you’ — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’” (Jer. 29: 11 CSB).
God knows we have to watch our steps. If we don’t, we give Satan a toe-hole into our lives.
Unfortunately, Satan has convinced worldview people that simple means stupid. That is just one of the lies Satan has forced on us.
Let’s look at it this way. Another “characteristic” of a simple person according to the worldview is that anything will be believed.
Not true. Read those verses again. “… consider his way …” (Prov. 14: 8 CSB) and “… watches his steps” (Prov. 14: 15 CSB).
When we consider something, we are looking at all sides before we make our decision. That isn’t blindly believing something.
If God wanted us to blindly believe Him, why would He want us to grow in knowledge? Rather, He wants us to make a conscious decision to follow Him.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
People Who Don't Have Spiritual Wisdom
“Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright” (Prov. 14: 9 NIV)
“The disloyal one will get what his conduct deserves, and a good one, what his deeds deserve” (Prov. 14: 14 CSB)
On the flip side to those who have spiritual wisdom, we have what Solomon called the foolish and the disloyal ones. Their actions make them earn those harsh nicknames.
Channing made an excellent point. Outside of church – and daily devotionals – how often do we hear the term sin?
Oh, we hear someone broke the law. We hear that there are bad people.
But Joe Cool on the street doesn’t really throw around, “I am a sinner.” That is, unless someone is joking or bragging about it.
Wilberforce wrote that the mocking sin eases the fear of it.
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Ooo, baby. Just wait. Channing wrote, “According to Scripture there is nothing so evil, so deformed, so ruinous, as sin.” Judgment day is coming.
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What non-believers don’t realize is that sin is what caused all of the strife that is in the world today. One snack sent forth a ripple effect that is still being felt today.
Think about it. Why aren’t non-believers more aware of their sinful state? Why is sin not a common word?
Rogers believed it is because mankind wants the forbidden more than the offered. How many of us know people who want what they can’t have?
But it is more than that. (And this isn’t a bash to disciples who aren’t witnessing.)
Rogers explained that, too. He wrote, “Whatever weakens these restraints must, in the same proportion, occasion the increase of all ungodliness.”
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Sin came in and weakened the restraints. It told us we could have what was forbidden (and the fruit was forbidden (Gen. 2: 17).
And it snowballed from there. Restraints weakened. Ungodliness increased.
Remember, it all starts out with a willful violation. It is our choice – not our parents’ choice, not society’s choice. Our choice alone.
Each of us has to decide for ourselves if we are going to believe in and submit to God.
Bitterness and Grief Because No Spiritual Wisdom
“The heart knows its own bitterness, and no outsider shares in its joy” (Prov. 14: 10 CSB)
“Even in laughter a heart may be sad, and joy may end in grief” (Prov. 10: 13 CSB)
When we don’t have spiritual wisdom, we experience bitterness and grief. It is very easy to keep those emotions hidden deep inside of us.
Spurgeon felt these verses were describing someone who was self-contained. We might call them introverts these days.
To me, self-contained is a good description. It is not only within us, but it is also about us – the private us.
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We are such individual people. Yes, there are similarities between my sister and I – but there are also differences.
Even though we grew up together and had the same upbringing, we had different experiences. Our paths diverged once we got off the farm. We had different careers, different family lives, and different thoughts and opinions.
We may think we know others, but we see only what they choose to let us see. We are good at hiding things, aren’t we? There is a variety of reasons that we do that – some good, some bad.
Sometimes, when we have bitterness in our lives, we let it spew. Other times, we bury it because it is so hurtful.
Oh, yeah. We may fake the laugh. We may plaster on a smile that means nothing.
Doing that, we wallow in our grief and bitterness. We feel so alone.
But we are not alone. God is always with us. He told us time and time again that He would never leave us.
- “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deut. 31: 8 ESV).
- “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD Your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1: 9 ESV).
- “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41: 10 ESV).
How many times have we wished just one person would call us so we could talk things through? We don’t need technology. We have prayer.
God is right there with us. He not only will never leave us, but He also knows us – and He still won’t leave us!
Let’s look at this another way. We don’t know someone’s heart. We don’t know if they have genuinely made a profession of faith. Only God knows the condition of their heart.
We are called to witness. God wants us to show them He can alleviate their bitterness and grief.
Eternal Consequences of Not Being Spiritually Wise
“The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish” (Prov. 14: 11 CSB)
“There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death” (Prov. 14: 12 CSB)
God is allowing people free will at the present time to make their own decisions. But the end times have been prophesied.
God has given us all we need to believe. We just have to use our free will to make the decision to do just that. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
Some may think that God is being weak and ineffective. That isn’t always going to be the case. One day, God will call, “Judgment day!”
Satan and all of his followers (i.e., those who have not genuinely ABCDed), will stop laughing. They will figure out the what they thought was right was, in reality, totally wrong. Dreadfully wrong.
All those who thought there was no God, who thought He wouldn’t judge because He is a loving God, and who thought being a good person was good enough will find out what being spiritually dead really means. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
Those who have mocked sin will suffer the consequences of that decision. They will spend eternity in hell.
To read a devotion in the Hell Does Have Fury series, click on the appropriate button below.
Afford shed some insight on Proverbs 14: 12. He noted that it is not speaking to non-believers. Instead, Solomon is speaking to those Jesus called out in Matthew 7: 21. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt. 7: 21 CSB).
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We have to be letting God lead our lives. We can’t be in control. We have to be totally submitted to Him.
Making the Connections
So, what do all of these verses tell us? Maybe simple isn’t the right word to use these days.
Cautious may be a better one. Parker wrote, “It is that life should be spent in a temper of caution; when we seem most secure we may be most exposed to danger; not only is our enemy a roaring lion, whose voice can be heard from afar, he is also a cunning and silent serpent, drawing himself towards us without making any demonstration, and not revealing himself until he is within striking distance.”
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But what does that mean?
- It is when things are going smoothly, and we are secure in our relationship with God, that we can expect Satan to come tempt us. He isn’t going to come tempt us to sin if we are already sinning.
- But don’t expect a declared war. Satan is going to try to slip up on us. If he can get us by deceit first, he will.
When we went on the mission trip last year, we were cautioned that many of the people in the region were indifferent to religion. They really didn’t care that if there was a God or not.
Unfortunately, I think that viewpoint is prevalent. Many will find out they were wrong.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to genuinely ABCD. We have to submit to God and believe on Him.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Sovereign God. You are all-knowing. Your wisdom is matchless. We bow in awe of You. Amen.
What do you think?
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