Limitations Unlimited

“I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.” (Pr 30:3 AV)

The above verse was written by Agur.  His name means compiler or “The collector.”  His statement above is his own self-evaluation as compared with the writers or originators of the wise sayings of Proverbs.  There is nothing more known of him than appears in this chapter.  We can deduce somethings about him.  We can see by his prayer for convenient sufficiency, he was a simple man who knew his calling and limits.  To pray that prayer also shows wisdom and humility. One truth seems to have escaped our most faithful commentators.  Agur compiled or collected, and then set in order, proverbs from various sources.  We do not know who these sources were nor do we know Agur’s relationship with them.  Some could have been from Solomon and not included in the previous section.  They could have been from anyone.  What we do see is a man who confessed he wasn’t the wisest of all men and had limited knowledge of the holy.  That is, he didn’t have as much knowledge of sacred truth as he assumed others had.  This did not stop the Holy Spirit from using this man as a servant through which to inspire holy Scripture.  The confession of the man did not match the Holy Spirit’s use of the man.  What he thought he was may or may not have been true.  By the Holy Spirit, Agur was able to recognize truth worthy of the word of God.  That takes spiritual insight which those more highly qualified may not have had.

Sometimes we cut ourselves short as to what the LORD can do with us.  The statement above may have been accurate as to how Agur felt, but it was not accurate as to the extent God could use him.  There are two mistakes we can make.  We can overestimate our abilities or gifts.  When we do this, the majority of what we attempt for the LORD is done in the flesh.  Our pride gets in the way and we go headlong into serving the LORD with an inflated idea of what can be done.  Sure, there are plenty of examples in the word of God when God uses someone above and beyond their abilities.  The apostle's gift of healing comes to mind.  These gifts or abilities were for a specific time and purpose.  Not everyone who was sick received a miracle.  If we are not careful, we can serve the LORD in the flesh and assume any results which come of it are by the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon our lives.  The other mistake is cutting short what the LORD can do with us if we yield to His control.  We are supposed to go beyond our limits.  We are supposed to surrender to the power of God so that all the glory goes to Him.  If like Agur, we make a statement above but it does not lead to the Holy Spirit accomplishing something despite our limits, then we have determined what God can or cannot do.  This man did not think himself credible to write what followed.  But it was that statement which was his qualification.

I see too many of God’s people make a statement like the one above and it freezes them at the level they believe they have attained.  They will not attempt anything beyond what they think they are capable of.  That is, capable of in the flesh.  That is our problem.  We do not want the LORD to stretch us beyond our limits because we want to be in control of the circumstances.  We are missing one dramatic experience.  When we trust the LORD and allow Him to work through us despite what we think we cannot do, it is one awesome experience when we realize just what God can do.  It becomes humbling because we realize the LORD didn’t have to do what He did.  He didn’t have to use Agur.  He could have used someone far more credible or experienced.  Yet, he chose Agur.  A man who didn’t think much of himself.  A man who had measured ambition but was content in whatever station of life the LORD had for him.  A man who was just as content to contribute to the inspiration of the word of God as he would have been if the LORD didn’t choose him.  We need to have a realistic view of what we are and what we are capable of.  But we don’t want to put ourselves in a situation wherein we determine for God what God can and cannot accomplish by us.  This is what Moses argued and it resulted in the LORD being very upset with him.  God can do anything.  It is good to know our abilities and limits.  But not to the exclusion of the Spirit's ability to work through us.

The Snare of Misery

“In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice.” (Pr 29:6 AV)

The proverb seems to imply the righteous will never fall into a snare.  We know this is not true.  To be righteous does not mean to be perfectly sinless.  We know there are consequences for choices.  Whether an evil man or a righteous man, there are things that necessarily happen when sin is involved.  So, of what is our preacher speaking?  What makes a person an evil person?  What makes a righteous person a righteous person?  Is it merely the absence or presence of sin?  If so, then we must agree with Paul when he tells us there is none righteous, no not one.  If that is the case as applied in our proverb, then there is no such thing as a righteous person.  That would mean we are all in a snare and this proverb has no value at all.  So, if we were to muse on the definition of evil verse righteous and further meditate upon what this snare might be, then perhaps we can learn a simple but profound truth here.  One that could liberate our hearts and souls so that we can sing and rejoice.  Would that be a tremendous blessing?

If we assume the transgression, and not the man, contains the snare, then the righteous man who transgresses is also caught in the snare.  This cannot be what Solomon intends.  There must be a difference between the nature of the evil man and the nature of the righteous man that makes the transgression end in a snare.  What could that be?  Matthew Barnes raised a possibility that I think just might be what Solomon is sharing.  The difference isn’t that the evil man sins and the righteous man does not sin.  We know this is not the case.  We know the righteous man is not calloused, refusing the consequences of the sin to ensnare him while enjoying the fruits of his sin.  Looking at the word meaning for transgression here sheds some light.  ‘Transgression’ here is not mere sin, but rather, reflects a condition of the heart which accompanies it.  The meaning for the word transgression means rebellion or revolt.  It does not mean a specific act.  Rather, the word is speaking of a deep condition of the heart.  On the other hand, the meaning for the word righteous here means just or lawful.  In other words, the evil man is a rebel while the righteous man is justified.  Herein is the key to our proverb.

This snare could be many things.  Solomon could be referring to hell itself.  But I don’t think so.  I think the snare needs to be compared with the singing and rejoicing of the righteous man.  The snare is the absence of singing or joy.  In other words, the snare of the evil man is misery.  The absence of joy.  The evil man has no ultimate purpose of life other than to please himself.  Self cannot be pleased so he is living a pointless and miserable life.  The allurement of sin is that it can satisfy and make one happy.  The lie of rebellion is it brings freedom from the tyranny of authority and as a result, a happy life.  This is simply not true.  All one had to do is look at what is happening in our world.  There is anger.  There is resentment.  There is discontentment.  But no joy.  All over the world, there is a rising tide of rebellion.  It may appear as though this rebellion is aimed at what is perceived as an unjust culture, but what it really is aimed at is God Himself.  No wonder there is no joy.  Even if the rebels get everything they want, it will not make them happy.  To live in rebellion means a snare of misery.  If the saint has no joy and is definitely not singing, it could be he or she is living in a continuous state of unconfessed sin.  Sin is our enemy.  Sin is the destroyer.  Sin is the robber of song and joy.  If we are miserable, it just might be our own fault.

The Greater Condemnation

“Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.” (Pr 28:10 AV)

Looking at this proverb, one might get the idea the righteous can fall into sin and not be judged for it.  If we look at that last phrase, the upright shall have good things in possession, and compare it to the first part of the proverb, it may appear there is little or no consequences for the choices of the saint.  Now, we know this is not true.  We know that if we sin, the LORD will chasten us.  This chastening is an expression of His love towards His children.  This chastening, according to Hebrews, is one of the proofs of our salvation.  So, if we know the upright will be chastened for his sin, how is it if the wicked cause the righteous to go astray, the righteous are still blessed?  What Solomon is teaching his children is the principle of the wrath of God upon the tempter, not the blessings of the tempted.  In other words, God may and will chasten the saint for falling, but the one who caused him to fall will receive greater punishment.  The tempter will fall into his own pit which will be greater than the pit in which he caused the upright to fall.  The book of Revelation calls this the patience of the saints.

There is a practice among drug dealers that produces more customers.  It is common among young users.  The drug dealers will lace food items or legal vices with a very small dose of the drug they are selling.  The victim us unaware he is being enticed.  The dose is increased until the victim is hooked; often without being aware of what caused his symptoms.  Along comes the dealer and offers a cure for what ails him.  He takes the cure, which he has been unknowingly consuming all along, and is hooked for life.  When we hear of these types of people, our blood boils.  Those who would peddle their poison for their own profit.  Other vices become a problem simply because we are confronted with temptation relentlessly.  We could get ride of our T.Vs, smartphones, and the internet and it would only scratch the surface of the countless ways in which immorality hits us in the face.  The only safe space we have is our own homes.  Even churches today are struggling with the bombardment of a super-sexualized society.  The saint which desires to live a holy life finds it frustrating.  He or she is moved to anger at the bombardment which comes daily.  Those who live for the LORD cannot wait until the LORD returns to clean up the mess mankind has created. 

The hawkers of wickedness have a special place in God’s wrath.  We pray for their soul.  Absolutely.  Yet, there is a balance here.  The saint of God has the patience that God will eventually judge all of this.  He will not tolerate the wickedness of man very much longer.  There is justice.  Yes, the child of God must own up to the choices he or she makes.  There are no excuses.  We have the Holy Spirit of God living inside our hearts to empower us to live free of sin.  Regardless of the temptation, the Holy Spirit is stronger.  All we must to is depend wholly upon Him and the promises of His word.  The tempter is defeated when prayer and God’s power are united in battle.  We can and should take comfort in the fact there is a special place of judgment for those institutions or people who make a sport of enticing God’s people into wickedness.  This thought should help us to resist knowing that even though we, in our own strength, might be helpless, the tempter is no match for the God who created them.  We must remember we are surrendering to a defeated foe.  Time to live in promised victory.

Enough Is Not Enough

“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” (1Ki 19:4 AV)

 We’ve all been there.  Elijah was a great man of God who was used of God as an instrument through which God made Himself known to the rebellious of Israel.  Those miracles which he took part in were miracles of dramatic fashion.  Most of which was calling down fire from heaven.  This is one of those acts of God which is hard to forget.  The word of the LORD came to Elijah, instructing him to gather all the prophets of Baal under Jezebel the queen of Israel.  When gathered with the people of Israel, Elijah gave them the challenge.  Whichever prophet or prophets could successfully intercede his or their deity to send fire from heaven consuming a sacrifice would be the one and only true God.  Not to retell the entire event, but in the reading of it, one can tell Elijah was all in.  He was one-hundred ten percent into to event.  He mocked the prophets of Baal.  He soaked his offering in twelve barrels of water.  All this while being to only one on that mountain among thousands who worshiped the only true God.  If God does not send fire from heaven, he is a dead man.  We know the account.  God answered dramatically and the result was eight-hundred prophets of Baal were slain.  After such an event, now we see the prophet by the brook completely used up and we read his words, “It is enough.”  The prophet came to the end of his rope.  In his mind, he had done enough.  There was no bigger miracle in which to participate.  The results wouldn’t last.  And the queen wanted him dead.  He was spent.

There were several times I have felt like this.  Emotionally, spiritually, and physically spent.  I have shared how I had shot two deer in the middle of a wildlife area only to realize I had to drag them over five miles to our waiting truck.  There were those many church problems that taxed my strength and reserves.  One such situation landed me in the hospital and several months later, made me very ill.  Another caused so much stress it affected my thyroid, blood pressure, and even caused a bit of brain trauma.  Then there were the many times as a youth I was taxed to the limit.  Usually, those times involved Boy Scouts or my paper route.  One such event I recall frequently.  There was another that comes to mind.  We had these three streets that were laid on a hill.  Cherry street was one of them.  Hyde Park and Reed streets were the other two.  My sisters had these routes.  There was one particular day when my sister could not deliver her route.  That left it up to me.  The way the route was laid out, it meant at least one uphill trek.  This particular afternoon, it was snowing a pretty good clip.  This meant no bicycle.  Being dressed for the worst Alaskan winter possible (we lived in western NY) this only added more weight to what we were carrying.  This particular time I can remember looking up the hill knowing I had to crisscross this street all the way up.  About two-thirds of the way up, I had had enough.  I couldn’t go any further.  My other sister had to come and help me finish.  I never felt so drained.

The thing about those times is we tend to survive them.  The route got done.  When we have had enough, it is interesting that after the trial, there seems to be many more that follow.  After this event, Elijah has an encounter with God’s still small voice.  The LORD would ask Elijah to ordain three other men who would assist him in the remained years of ministry.  Elijah served a total of thirty-five years.  What is fascinating is he served with Elisha for twenty-three of those years.  In other words, Elijah had served twelve years, or one-third of his ministry before he said he had had enough.  Little did he know he would have to serve another twenty-three years before the LORD arranges a fiery chariot to sweep him home.  The point is this.  No one would dispute how we feel.  We feel as though we have had enough.  And that may be very accurate.  However, enough is truly not enough.  Not when the LORD can revive the heart of the burnt-out and used-up.  Not when the LORD can send help and encouragement.  We may think we know our limits, but the LORD knows them better.  Enough is never enough until the LORD says it is.

Impartial Consequences

“The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.” (Pr 26:10 AV)

The word ‘both’ throws us off a bit.  At first glance, it may appear as the fool and the transgressor is compared against one another.  However, they are not.  God rewards both the fool and the transgressor for that which they have done.  This is why the word ‘both’ is used.  The equivalent would be to say both the young person and the adult will be rewarded for their sacrifice.  So, now let us look at what Solomon is saying here.  According to the book of Proverbs, a fool can be defined as, “a person who is somewhat deficient in intellect, but not an idiot; or a person who acts absurdly; one who does not exercise his reason; one who pursues a course contrary to the dictates of wisdom.” – Webster’s 1828.  The fool can be a fool by ignorance not of his own volition.  However, in the book of Proverbs, a fool is a fool of his own choosing.  Either deliberate or by convenient neglect.  The point being, there are consequences for choices whether we are willfully ignorant of those consequences or if we deliberately choose to transgress, knowing what consequences lay ahead. 

There is a trend that is becoming more and more obvious.  People who get caught in circumstances of their own making find an excuse as to why they should not suffer.  One of those arguments is ignorance.  I have had a few traffic tickets in my day.  One of them involved a state park.  I was leaving a resort after visiting family and there was no posted speed limit sign when entering the roadway.  I was on my way out of the park and was stopped by a patrolman.  He gave me a ticket for speeding.  I was a bit upset over this because I had seen no sign announcing a limit.  He then pointed to the sign which happened to be hidden by a tree growing in front of that sign.  If I had been traveling the correct speed, it would have been slow enough to see the sign.  A judge might have dismissed the ticket, but I choose to pay it anyway.  Why?  Because there are consequences for choices.  Imagine someone gets in a car during the winter months.  He approaches a patch of black ice.  He is a new driver and unaware of the dangers of black ice.  As he hits that patch of black ice, the ice thinks to itself that it would be really unfair for this young man to suffer an accident.  So, it immediately melts.  Then, another driver approaches.  An older driver.  He should know better.  So, the ice refreezes and the consequences are serious.  You might think that foolish.  But this is how the fool thinks of life.  He thinks if he stays willfully ignorant of consequences, then consequences don’t apply to him.

Whether we like it or not, God has put in place natural consequences for choices.  Physics tells us that for each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  God is not going to relax a natural law because we are ignorant of it.  Otherwise, we remain willfully ignorant and do as we please.  The immature person thinks this way.  He wants to do as he pleases and remains naïve, or as the Bible says, simple and expects to be free of the natural laws of action to pass him over.  When they do not, he cries out that God is not fair.  After all, he didn’t know any better.  Personal accountability is at an all-time low.  We are like the famous ostrich who buries his head in the sand.  We think if we ignore what we don’t like to see or think about, it won’t touch us.  How foolish.  If two jump out of an airplane, one with a chute and the other without, they will both splat on the ground if the one wearing a chute never learned how to use it.  Gravity doesn’t bend for the ignorant.  Neither does the absolute law of God.

Good May Not Mean O.K.

“And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.” (2Ch 13:16 AV)

 

Abijah, king of Judah decided to go to battle with Jeroboam.  He viewed the ten northern tribes as citizens guilty of insurrection and whom his father, Rehoboam, was unable to conquer due to lack of experience or immaturity.  Abijah believed he had the upper hand simply because he and the temple and the north did not.  He felt that since they had the temple and the temple system of sacrifice was still in force, then God would be for them no matter how many there were against him.  When the battle was set in array, Abijah confronted Jeroboam head-on.  However, while he paid no attention, half of Jeroboam’s forces came around back to surround Abijah’s army.  Seeing himself in a precarious position, he and the children of Judah cried out to the LORD.  God gave them a victory to the tune of 500,000 dead.  From that point on, Jeroboam was never the same and never again caused a problem for Judah.  Abijah got himself in a situation he should not have been in and God rescued him.  Further, the LORD kept this adversary at bay for the rest of his reign.  It may appear God blessed even though Abijah was mistaken.  But that is not what happened. 

Pragmatism can get us in a lot of trouble.  Assuming things based merely on what we observe, or experience,  may not be wise.  Imagine a hiker begins his ascent.  As he slowly climbs he fails to read his topographical map.  He fails to see that he is headed into a pass with no exit.  The way in was too steep to go down, but not too steep to climb.  After a bit, he realizes he cannot get out of this pass without some help.  So, he grabs his satphone and radios for help.  Due to the weather, help cannot come right away.  In fact, poor weather settles in and it takes three days before help finally arrives.  This hiker failed to prepare and had no food and limited water.  When the rescue team final extradites him from his certain peril, they immediately take him to a medic tent on the top of the summit.  There, he is treated and recovers.  They feed him.  They bathe him.  Then, they take him to the precipice of the summit to see the most amazing sunset he would ever see.  No one in their right mind would think the end was a reward for the choices he made along the way.  Not even the hiker would think the sunset justified his poor planning and poor judgment.  Yet we do this all the time.

Abijah was rescued despite his choice to conquer an enemy he had no business engaging.  The victory was a decisive one.  The LORD didn’t simply get him out of a fix.  Rather, the LORD used the choice of Abijah, misguided as it was, to humble Jeroboam.  Five hundred enemy dead.  Cities taken.  An enemy city destroyed.  If I am Abijah, it would have been hard not to assume God’s hand of blessing on me even though I had started with the wrong choice.  The split between the two portions of Israel was of the LORD.  It was the judgment on the house of Solomon for allowing idol worship.  There was no reconciling this nation until Shiloh comes.  For Abijah to think the only reason his father was unsuccessful was immaturity lacked an understanding of the will of God.  To then assume the LORD delivered them and blessed them because Abijah assumed he was right, but got caught in a strategic disadvantage would be a great error.  The point is, we cannot judge God’s opinion merely based on our observations.  We cannot assume God’s blessings also means God’s approval.  Just because we are blessed of the LORD does not mean all the methods used to get there were approved of the LORD.  Perhaps what we see as approval is really mercy.  Simply because things are good does not mean things were o.k.

Yes, Things Will Go Well

“And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.” (2Ch 12:12 AV)

 

Rehoboam, king of Judah, forsook the law once things settled down from Israel’s bloodless civil war.  When the kingdom began to prosper, Rehoboam went after idols introduced by his father, Solomon, and his own wives.  In response, the LORD sent Shishak, king of Egypt against Judah and Jerusalem.  In the process, Shishak took away all the precious metals which Judah had amassed.  This included the precious metals of the Temple.  Rehoboam was forced to replace all that was taken with brass.  The gold was replaced with a far less valuable metal and when the king entered the temple, seeing the severe downgrade, he repented of his wickedness which brought all this on him.  The LORD threatened Rehoboam and Judah with continued subservience to Egypt because of their sin.  It was upon this the leaders repented of their sin.  Their rebellion cost them what was most precious.  Now, they have to look at the substandard treasures of the house of the LORD and know it was they who brought this upon Judah and the temple.  Yet, note the underlined phrase.  When repentance came, it went well with Judah.  The word means they began to prosper again.

I was of a generation requires to take two years of a foreign language to graduate from high school.  I don’t know what possessed me to take French.  I had German and Spanish to choose from.  I choose to take the most difficult of all three foreign languages offered by my high school.  After a year of struggling with it, I barely passed.  I think sixty-eight was my final grade.  I still remember my final exam grade.  A sixty-two.  The next year, the state dropped the foreign language requirement!  Praise be to God.  Could I have done better?  You bet.  I was not that disciplined of a student.  I didn’t study hard.  The more I studied, the more I got confused.  So, I relied on my comprehension and memory to average and an ‘A’ minus through all of high school.  I failed to do well enough in French.  Something, with a little bit of sweat, I could probably have managed.  Will that grade be forever on my transcript.  Absolutely.  But my lack of discipline in one area did not condemn me in all other areas.  To this day, I have my French teacher and my ninth grade English teacher to thank for the ability to discern unknown English words with their origin to Latin.   

There are consequences to our actions.  The short term consequences for Rehoboam’s sin was the loss of precious metal treasures of both his house and the house of the LORD.  These things could be replaced.  And they were.  The consequences of disobedience were short term.  This is not always the case.  The good news is, when the correction is over, we can do well.  We may not get back to the glory we once had, but a new and better condition can be ours.  The scars may remain.  It may cost us more than we anticipated to return and grow even further.  But, we can do well.  This is the hope of correction.  We know we must endure it.  We know it is often very embarrassing and difficult to tolerate.  The Adversary wants us to think we are a permanent failure.  This is not the case.  We are a failure only to the degree we want to be.  If we respond to the correction of God, then we will do well!  This is the goal.  This is the privilege of the saint.  This is what we look forward to.  We look forward to the chastening of the old man that the new man may grow.  We look forward to being taken out of the way.  We look forward to the pruning.  We look forward to being re-tied closer to the vine.  Even though this adds short term stress, in the long run, we produce fruit.  We will do well.

When Sitting for a Spell Means Disaster

“And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.” (1Ki 13:14 AV)

This is the historical event of the young Prophet who the LORD instructed to prophesy against the altar at Bethel.  He confronted Jeroboam.  The altar was destroyed.  Before this young man of God left his home tribe of Judah, he was instructed of the LORD not to return the way he came and not to linger in the while in the territory of the ten northern tribes.  Now, Bethel is a border city between Ephraim and Benjamin.  The city of Bethel was only ten miles north of Jerusalem.  The LORD chose a prophet from Jerusalem because the altar at Bethel was an afront to the true altar at Jerusalem.  No other prophet would do.  It had to be this young man.  As the account unfolds, we hear of an old prophet who desired the company of this young man of God.  Particularly because the word of the LORD came to pass immediately after the young prophet spoke the word.  This older prophet wanted the company of someone on whom the hand of God rested.  The problem was, the LORD specifically told that young man not to tarry in the land of Ephraim.  Yet, he trusted the word of this older man of God and disobeyed the word of God when he had no direction from the LORD.  He took the word of the older prophet as someone who had been with God and received an updated word from the LORD.  We find this young prophet dead by the hand of a lion.  Exactly what the LORD told him would happen if he tarried in the land of Ephraim.  Now, we often blame the old prophet.  This is not without cause.  He bears the lion’s share (pun intended) of it.  Yet the young man has blame to share as well.  He never required the old prophet to speak in the name of the LORD.  And he tarried in a place where he shouldn’t have.  He was taking a rest under an oak when he was but a few miles from safety.  This young man put himself in the position of falling for temptation.

I have used the example of Niagara Falls quite a bit.  I grew up nearby and it is one of those places that has a great impact on one’s life.  I remember many things about ‘The Falls.’   One that I reference over and again is the safety markers on the Niagara River just above the American Falls.  There are buoys in the river about a mile upstream from the fall’s edge.  These markers are intended to warn boaters once they cross them, they hazard their lives.  The current, being extremely strong, could sweep them over the edge regardless of how powerful a motor they possess.  The many times I have visited the falls, I have noticed something peculiar.  Of all the boats that recreate on that river, whether fishing, water skiing, or simply puttering about, very few come even close to those mile markers.  Almost all stay far enough away that if there were trouble, there would be plenty of time to get to safety.  Every once in awhile there might be a younger boater who feels the necessity of tempting fate.  But most are sensible enough to stay far away from trouble to not even invite it.

This young man lost his life for the very simple reason he was somewhere he shouldn’t have been.  He may have had what he considers good reason.  Perhaps the journey there and the anxiety over his ministry tired him out.  Perhaps he felt he needed a nap to refresh himself before he journeyed home.  I’ve been there.  The Holy Spirit uses you up and all you want to do is collapse.  Perhaps he thought his usefulness as a prophet was done.  He had done his task.  The prophecy had come true.  What was the big rush getting home?  After all, there wasn’t a ministry there waiting for him to continue.  Whatever his reason for resting under the shade of an oak tree, this one choice began the cascade of successive failures of the will.  He failed to obey the LORD as instructed and it blinded him from the truth as one choice after another would doom his return.  Obedience, performed immediately, is the key to avoiding disaster.

What's In A Name

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” (Pr 22:1 AV)

 I have read this verse or heard it preaches hundreds of times, yet failed to see a nugget of truth which the Spirit illumined this wonderful morning.  Note specifically the relationship between the good name or favor with great riches, or silver and gold.  Note a choice must be made.  A choice for a good name or favor.  A good name is established by the choices we make.  Before great riches, silver, or gold, there is a choice that we are confronted with.  That is, how will the attaining of, or passion of, these things reflect on one’s reputation.  Wealth is not a bad thing.  How we attain them, what we do with them, and how they affect our walk with God can be.  But the possession of wealth is not evil.  Only the love of it.  Our sage is warning his children their reputation is worth more than anything they could ever possess.  Their reputation is the greatest of all riches.   But we want to key on the three-word phrase underlines above.  A reputation is something we choose.  It is not a result of good fortune.  A good name is something we choose to pursue and guard before we make any choices.  It is a purposeful goal that we strive towards.  Even in failure, overcoming a tarnish of our reputation can be attained if we fix what we have done.  But let us meditate on that three-word phrase, “to be chosen.”

I have never gone to detention.  I never did anything so wrong the teacher felt I had to stay after school and sit with others who also misbehaved.  There was a really bad movie that came out a few years after I graduated from High School.  The plot of the movie involved five students who were assigned to attend a Saturday detention.  The Teacher Moderator gave the assignment that each student was to write a one thousand word essay describing who they thought they were.  The essay is the focal point of the movie.  During the events of the nine-hour day, these five students continue their bad behavior.  Then, they dared to write the essay and conclude the teacher chose to see them as he did even though they were not exactly what they thought.  There was no true repentance.  There were no life-changing choices.  In fact, two of the five students had chosen to go down a road that would lead to worse choices.  The reason it was so well received was it reflected the attitude of teenagers.  The assumption their reputations were that of skewed observations of adults who didn’t understand them.  In reality, their reputations were a conglomerate of the choices they had made which landed them in detention class, to begin with.

There has been a dearth of this pursuit in the last generation or two.  There was a time when reputation meant everything.  There was a time when we worked hard so that others would trust us.  Our word meant something because it was based on past choices we had made.  Not so much anymore.  There are too many escape clauses for the poor choices of life.  There is no more striving for excellence.  Only that which will get us by.  We have become a society of perpetual failures who do not require of ourselves or others discipline to excel at life.  Perfection, or even striving for it, is no longer on the radar screen.  We are like a support group sitting around and spewing all of our failures to those who do the same with no real desire to overcome those failures.  We share a moment of mutual remorse over what we have done so that we can feel better about ourselves, or make others feel better about themselves, but we do not challenge one another to choose a good name.  Our view is if everyone is a failure, then what would it matter if I am one, too.  Solomon knows a good reputation will never hurt you but a bad one might.  A good name is something we choose to pursue.  It is a goal that defines the choices we make before we make them.  What others think does matter.  What God thinks matters more.

Success in Most Does Not Permit Lapse in One

“And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.” (1Ki 11:10 AV)

 Solomon was, by a biblical statement, the wisest man to live.  That is, outside of Christ.  There was none wiser.  The LORD asked Solomon of anything he would desire of the LORD.  Solomon did not ask for long life.  He did not ask for riches.  He did not ask for success against his enemies.  The one thing he desired of the LORD above all else was wisdom.  In asking for wisdom above all else, Solomon already showed great wisdom.  With wisdom, he would attain the other three.  Solomon was the greatest king, as far as earthly success goes, the nation of Israel ever had.  He could do no wrong.  His wisdom exceeded that of any other person on the globe.  So much so which other leaders would come to his throne just to hear him pontificate.  In many ways, Solomon was the most successful ruler ever known to mankind.  He rarely failed.  That is until he got it in his heart to add multiple wives.  Many of them from none-Jewish nations.  He did so, in part, to ally himself with his enemies, avoiding war and enjoying free commerce.  The problem was, the LORD specifically told Solomon not to add wives of other nations.  He even told him why.  So, the question arises, if Solomon is the wisest man on earth, why would he do something so dumb as to take to himself strange wives who would steal his heart away from the one true God? 

There could be several reasons.  One of them could be simply pragmatism.  It solved diplomatic problems and brought peace to his nation.  Another could simply be he couldn’t discipline his lust.  Although we see no indication of that.  There is another possibility which we must consider.  That is, just because Solomon was successful in all other areas of life, he may have thought taking this liberty was no big deal.  If the LORD had given him success on all other sides, then this one area wouldn’t be all that harmful.  That is a dangerous assumption to make.  We know this one stumbling block was the sin that brought down the whole nation.  Solomon should have been able to see this.  As he was assigned to do, he was a student of the word of God.  He would have read in Deuteronomy and Numbers of a nation called Moab who attempted to conquer Israel as they traveled from Egypt.  Not gaining the curse of God on them, Moab decides to entice Israel into intermarrying with them.  God severely judges Israel for this.  Perhaps Solomon felt that he did have Jewish wives and the seed of the Messiah was secure through one of them.  So what would be the harm in entertaining a few pleasures?  As long as he did all that he was supposed to do, what is the harm in a bit of liberty?

This is how we think.  We think if we are mostly obedient, then the LORD will pass over those areas in which we have exercised misguided liberty.  What is worse is we begin to think if we are mostly obedient, then we are entitled to a bit of forbidden pleasure.  It’s like school.  As long as we are passing, then it doesn’t matter if we got a few questions wrong.  When I was in high school, I hated taking the state-issued final exams.  It was summertime!  Who wanted to be in a hot gym with hundreds of other students, taking exams when we’d rather be outside fishing or playing ball?  So, the teacher instructed us to read through the exam first and answer all the questions we knew first.  Then double back and work on the ones which were not so obvious.  Yeah, right!  Not this student.  As long as I was certain I got a good portion of them right, I was out of there.  I passed.  That’s all that mattered.  God doesn’t work that way.  He is not after a passing grade.  He is after Christlikeness.  He is after perfection.  We are not entitled to a bit of sinful pleasure just because we please GOD in most other areas of life.  He wants it all.  He is entitled to it all!

Not Just For Warning

“For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.” (Ec 7:12 AV)

 This verse is extremely profound.  Let me paint you a picture.  You are sitting in service after service listening to biblical preaching but all it seems to be is warning against foolishness or sin.  There is nothing wrong with these types of messages.  We need them more than any other.  Or, suppose you are sitting in school and all you hear about is the consequences for bad choices.  Again, much needed.  Not a waste of time at all.  However, if all we hear are the consequences for bad choices, we fail to see there is another side of the coin.  Wisdom keeps us from bad choices.  This is the first part of the verse.  This is a good thing.  Wisdom is a defense.  It keeps us from going to a place we should not.  However, the true excellency of wisdom is not that it keeps us from death.  Rather, wisdom gives life.  This is important to understand.  There is a two-fold nature of wisdom.  The first is that it keeps us from trouble.  The second is that wisdom gives life.  The second is better than the first.

It is important to know that avoiding evil opens up the possibilities of good.  We are often focused on what we cannot do and fail to see all that we can do.  There were many rules my father, in his wisdom, put in place for my siblings and I.  One of the rules was avoiding the mall unless chaperoned by a parent.  This was when malls were springing up everywhere.  It was a novelty.  We were not allowed in the arcade either.  Rather than complain about what we could or could not do, what my father did was to teach us how to fish.  He allowed us the ability of independence by requiring we purchase a ten-speed bike when we turned twelve.  This bike opened up all sorts of independent ventures of which my father would approve.  It was with my bicycle I went to ball practice and played in little league.  It was with my bike I went to the community pool.  It was with my bike I went to my friend's house.  It was with my bike another friend and I would trek over twelve miles to a reservoir.  It was with this bike I would go to the twin ponds, wide-waters, and the nine-mile Creek to fish.  It was with this bike my siblings and I would travel to the public school building to play handball, tennis, or twenty-one.  In other words, wisdom wasn’t merely to keep us from hanging with bad influences doing bad things at the mall or arcade.  Wisdom opened up a whole new life of pleasures and positive experiences.

God gives us the pattern.  In the Garden of Eden, He states, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Ge 2:16-17 AV)  Sure, wisdom would tell you to have a system of three points of contact while ascending and descending a ladder.  Wisdom may state a safety harness would be a smart thing or if we fall, a major hurt may be in our future.  Learning safety, however, opens up the skill set one can use later on to rock climb, repel, or a host of other opportunities.  Sure, as a pastor and parent, we want to teach those who follow that bad choices have bad consequences.  But we also desire, with the warning, to open up to the heart a myriad of other pleasures all within the confines of wisdom.  We are no different from Eve if we think wisdom is only for the discouragement of pleasures of life.  This is simply not so.  Wisdom is life itself!