June 6, 2012 … Wisdom OR Folly ... Glory OR Gluttony – We Choose!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Proverbs, Chapters 10-12 [NKJV] To study these chapters, go to this link - 

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Highlight Passage: Proverbs 13: 20 : [NKJV]… He who walks with wise men will be wise, … but the companion of fools will be destroyed. 
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Highlight Passage #2: Proverbs 14: 12 :[NKJV] … There is a way that seems right to a man, … but its end is the way of death. 
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Highlight Passage #3: Proverbs 15: 14 :[NKJV] … The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, … but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness. 

  My Journal for Today: Once again, I repeat with some degree of assertion, that reading through the Proverbs is a very personal task/assignment; and if you’re following along with me, what I glean through my trek through this book of wisdom may be very different from what any reader of my devotional journal entries might find if he/she was meditating through the same passages of Proverbs. So, I do hope you’re doing your own study and are letting God’s Spirit, as am I, convict/direct your mind/heart to harvest God’s truth FOR YOU as you study through the Proverbs – in this case, today, Chapter 13-15.

For me, though, the three verses, highlighted above jumped off the pages of my reading today, causing me some degree of reinforcement and encouragement; and to journal these impressions, let me first start with highlight passage #2 above, “There is a way that seems right to a man, … but its end is the way of death.” And if you’re like me, a redeemed and grateful sinner, seeking after God’s will and His way in this life, you know, that we sinners are most vulnerable to our own choices, especially since, as God’s word, through Jeremiah (in Jer. 17: 9) we are reminded that our hearts (i.e., our spiritual beings) are wicked beyond measure; and like a wild stallion, our flesh must be broken and tamed unto self-control by our surrender to God’s Spirit. My friend[s], my default mechanism – i.e., my human spirit – is a wild and unruly creature by nature; but praise God, I now have access to the reforming and morphing power of God, the Holy Spirit, Who resides in me, as a saved Christian, to rely upon and to follow as my Savior has commanded me (see Luke 9: 23).

And to help me be in a continual state of recognized brokenness and self-control (i.e., an attitude of humility and meekness, as was modeled by Jesus – see Matt. 11: 29), I think we all need to implement Prove 13: 20; and that is to surround one’s self with cohorts of wise and proven followers of Jesus Christ. I’ve always been stricken by the instructions of Paul to wayward Christians in the wild church (in Corinth) when he wrote to them that they could follow his lead in discipleship because he knew – and was confident – that he (Paul) was following Christ [see 1st Cor. 11: 1]. So, ask yourself, … “Am I following the lead of Christians whom I know are Godly and wise and are closely following God’s will and way by knowing and being led by God’s word?” If we are, we are wise disciples. If we are not, we are FOOLS!

And that brings me to the advice highlighted as #3 today in Proverbs 15: 14, which you can read above. And Solomon’s point here screams out the question, “Are you feeding on God’s wisdom or are you feeding on the junk food offered by the world and all of Satan’s sugar pushers?” Think about it, fellow Christian. We know the result of those who gluttonously chow down on processed sugar poison and junk food. They get stupidly fat and become addicted to the foods of the world. But those we know whose minds/hearts feed, in a disciplined way, on God’s truth – from His word – are lean and mean when it comes to their Christian life. Who are we, … fellow warriors [?], … the fat ones who are so addicted to the sugar poisons of the world; … or are we the lean and mean service machines who can be use for God’s glory because we’re feeding on God’s truth in His word?

Personally, my friends, I’m doing all I can to feed on God’s word – like I have here this morning – eating all that God would want me to consume every day for my spiritual sustenance. And though I do struggle against my obsessive/compulsive gluttonous nature, I do so try to follow disciplined Christians in feeding on the raw power of God’s word which helps me to be lean and ready for action in warfare as a soldier in God’s army.

So, my friends, though I may sound like I’m a bit “cocky,” I repeat Paul’s charge … that you can imitate me, because I’m doing all I can to follow my Lord into battle every day. Common, soldier, … let’s do business for God today, feeding on His word and seeking His ways by following the walk of His proven, effective leaders.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I submit to others who know Your ways and seek Your will from Your word. Amen