Monday 19 Nov 2012

Monday Reading: Proverbs 15:7

Key Verse: Proverbs 15:7
7  The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

Devotion:
I wonder, have you looked up to someone in a position of authority and made a point of going to hear them speak somewhere, only to be let down when you do hear them speak… and then wonder how you could have ever thought of them as being wise after hearing them speak? The more that man continues to try and find wisdom in the things that he does and says, the more they will trip over themselves and find out that they are fools compared to our Lord.

I am thankful that I can attend a church each week where I know that God’s Word is going to be preached and not some story about man or his failings. Nowadays we do have the Holy Spirit who is here to help us to understand this Word and to encourage us to seek all that is true, but we still do need someone to teach us when we are in need because we do grow weary and we are surrounded by trials.

If we get too discouraged we may not hear God calling us because we are too focused on the earth and all the stuff going on around us; but when we have someone who is willing to stand up and explain just a little bit more of God’s Word to us we can be encouraged and built up once again. The more strength we find in God through His Word the more we will be able to listen to Him when He does try to speak to us through that Word.

We are going to be faced with many people who will try to tell us things that sound good or that will sound encouraging at the time, things that we may accept until we try them and find out they collapse in a heap. Just like buying a step ladder that looks so good, attempting to climb up the side of the house using it only to fall flat as the rungs give in without supporting us as they should. None of us would accept that sort of ladder and hopefully, if we are able, we would demand some sort of recompense. But when people give us advice we do not always have a method by which we can recover anything because we have accepted what they offer as the truth at the time.

God wants us to test what others give us to make sure that it does agree with His Word. If it does not then those words we have received are not words of wisdom but the simple words of another fool. God’s Word was written by people inspired by God. It is the truth and it is full of wisdom – test what you hear by comparing it to God’s Word.

Points to Ponder:
Do you believe everything you hear?

How often do you go back to God’s Word to make sure?