Passage of the Day: Proverbs 24: 7a … Wisdom is too high for a fool; …
My Journal for Today: John MacArthur writes, in his devotional from Strength for Today for this date, “… we live in a world of fools.” Wow [!]; … how could one read the news and disagree with that? How could one see what’s going on in Washington, DC and disagree with that? How could I view what I’ve done in my past and disagree? Until I was 39 years old, for almost 22 years of my life I was a captive of my sin nature, … bound and gagged in foolishness. Godly wisdom, as today’s verse proclaims, was way out of my scope of reasoning during that time of my life.
Macarthur indicates that there are three things which mark “the fool” in today’s world …
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#1. The fool denies God (see Psalm 14: 1), living as if there were no God. It’s what MacArthur calls, “practical atheism,” … a life of corruption and idolatry.
#2. The fool becomes his own God (see Prov. 12: 15a), worshipping and living for self rather than for The Savior, which again is self-indulgent idolatry.
#3. And the fool mocks sin (see Prov. 14: 9a), making up his own rules and being his own standard to justify sinful behavior. His way becomes the “right” way.
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Yes, that was me prior to 1977 … a selfish “fool,” who finally looked into God’s mirror of truth and saw myself for whom I really was. However, when I first saw the reality of myself in that mirror, I ran, seeking for wisdom in all the wrong places, … primarily into spiritual thought processes managed by the enemy … “religions” such as Buddhism, Taoism, and New Age-ism. But in 1983, I finally was able to look into God’s mirror of true wisdom and, by God’s grace, sense Christ calling me; and I stepped away from foolishness and moved toward real wisdom. And to a great degree, though I’ve had some fool-hardy selfish detours and distractions along the way, I’ve come to live in the convicted direction of Psalm 119: 9-11, Luke 9: 23, Prov. 3: 5-6, and Romans 12: 1-2 , which, if internalized, shows any born-again sinner-saint how to stay on track and follow God.
Yes, all believers still must contend with the residuals of our sin nature (Rom. 3: 23 and Jer. 17: 9); but now, as born-again believers, we have God’s spirit to bring us toward God’s wisdom and away from worldly foolishness (Gal. 2: 20 and 1st John 4: 4). I don’t have to walk the way of the fool any more; and neither do you if you’ve truly surrendered to Christ and His Spirit.
What is your path these days? Don’t you think it’s time we all get off the selfish track and follow the Savior?
My Prayer Today: Fill me, Lord, that I may never be the worldly fool. Amen
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