Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
As human beings we are by default rational beings. This means that God has created humanity with an ability not endowed upon the animal kingdom. This ability is what separates us distinctly from the animal kingdom. This special endowment given to man is the ability to think. We are dependent upon this ability for the simplest to the most complicated of decisions and actions. God, however, warns us not to rely upon our thinking or understanding of things for our decision making but upon the revelation of God and His will that He has given us in the Bible. The reason for this is simple. Many times our thinking is misinformed or faulty, and therefore our decisions will be faulty. This passage presents us with two glaring illustrations of this.
2 Chronicles 25:14-16 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them. 15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand? 16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.
These three verses illustrate a complete failure of King Amaziah to think rationally. He has just won a great victory over the Edomites by the power of God. His next act is to worship the gods of the Edomites. We see this repeated in our lives today as we trade the wisdom of God in the Scriptures for the failed wisdom of humanity. This is what has resulted in the failure of the institution of the family as people follow human reasoning in opposition to Scripture, seeking 50/50 marriages and child training without corporal punishment.
2 Chronicles 28:22-23 And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.
Ahaz's thinking fails him at a critical point in his life. The battle against Syria is not going well, so he reasons that the Syrians gods are helping them. Ahaz makes the decision to worship those gods. Problem- God opposing Ahaz not the Syrians gods helping them is the reason for his failure. Ahaz is misinformed and therefore comes to the wrong conclusion. Pragmatism is the fruit of this type of thinking today. What others are doing is contrary to Scripture but appears to work, so we forsake the wisdom of God to do what seems to work. This can be seen in action with the Seeker-Sensitive church movement. It jettisoned the Gospel and brought people to church services for entertainment and other selfish reasons. They have now declared the last ten years of this seemingly successful movement to be a failure. It did not follow the principles of Scripture and did not produce conversions and lasting results.
We must be careful that pride does not blind us to our limitations. We will always need God's wisdom in the Bible because without God, our knowledge is imperfect at best and erroneous at worst. Let us heed God's warning.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Daily Devotional- Luke 10:1-24 Disciples sent out
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