by R. Herbert | May 15, 2016 | Knowledge & Wisdom, Obedience
Something to think about: “The highway of the upright avoids evil,
he who guards his way guards his life“ (Proverbs 16:17).
Many biblical verses promising God’s protection are favorites with Christians everywhere. We can find them placed on everything from clothing to jewelry and from letter-opener swords to digital screen savers.
But, wonderful as those verses are – and central to our faith in God’s frequent protection for his people, according to his will – Proverbs 16:17 reminds us that there is another aspect to the matter of our protection: our own behavior.
In saying “the highway of the upright avoids evil,” we are reminded by the proverb that where we go in life, morally and spiritually, often determines what evil we may come in contact with. In saying “he who guards his way guards his life,” we are reminded that our protection may begin and end with God, but in between we are responsible for where we go in life and many of the dangers we may experience.
Another biblical proverb – Proverbs 22:3 – expounds that thought: “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Our protection is not just a matter of our faith in God’s care wherever we may choose to go; it is also often a matter of how well we follow the “road map” of life we are given in God’s word.
Proverbs 16:17 reminds us that although we can’t always choose what we will meet on the road of life, the road we choose will often determine what we do encounter.
by R. Herbert | Apr 9, 2015 | Knowledge & Wisdom
Some people are defined in their own eyes, and in the eyes of others, by their accomplishments, others by their relationships, others again by their education or experiences. There are clearly many things that serve as defining aspects in our lives.
Yet, sadly, a great many people in this world would answer the question “What three things most define individuals?” in a remarkably similar way: “appearance, possessions, success.” Although many are not so shallow, of course, hundreds of millions of people would agree that these are perhaps the three physical things that “define” an individual in the eyes of others more than anything else.
But the Christian realizes that these three things are ultimately meaningless, and that in the long run – at the end of our physical lives – our looks, money, influence, and all such things will certainly not define who we are in the eyes of God. So what qualities do affect how God sees us?
The answer is a surprisingly simple one and is found repeatedly throughout the Bible. The three things that define us in God’s eyes are our attitudes, our actions, and our words. We see this many times in scriptures such as this example in the Book of Proverbs in which God, in the personification of Wisdom, states: “… I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Proverbs 8:13B) – in other words: attitudes, actions, and words.
What is especially interesting about this particular verse is that it does not say that Wisdom hates “evil thoughts,” in addition to evil behavior and evil speech, but elaborates on the area of attitude by singling out the example of pride and arrogance. The verse makes it clear that the God who looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7) particularly dislikes a proud attitude – something which is underscored by many other verses in Proverbs and elsewhere (Proverbs 16:5, etc.). In fact, if we study the many biblical verses that deal with our thoughts and mental state, we find one of the most commonly mentioned problematic attitudes is that of rebellious pride that puts itself before God.
This is worth thinking about. It is considerably easier to be aware of the problem when we have fallen down in deed or in word than it is when we have slipped in the area of attitude. Secondly, there are many possible failings of attitude – selfishness, self-pity, lack of concern, etc. – but perhaps none is so hard to see in ourselves as pride. And this is an important thing to remember. Pride has been called the worst of all sins by Christian thinkers from Augustine to C.S. Lewis and beyond. The fact that pride is so bad and yet is the hardest attitude to detect in ourselves may well be the reason it is singled out so often in Proverbs and elsewhere in the Bible.
But why is pride so bad? From a biblical perspective, pride is often an “invisible” form of hate itself, the very opposite of love. In fact, we find in the apostle Paul’s great “Love” chapter, 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is kind… it does not boast, it is not proud” (1 Corinthians 13:4). These are in fact, examples of the very opposites of the qualities hated by Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs: Love is kind – actions, love does not boast – words, love is not proud – attitude. It is clear that if we are to follow the way of Wisdom, the Way preached by Paul and found throughout the Scriptures, we must remember that the three things that truly define us are – our actions, our words, and our attitudes.
by R. Herbert | Feb 11, 2015 | Knowledge & Wisdom
Scripture: Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”
Something to think about: Is our self-perception or self-worth based on what we have, our appearance, our position in society or any other physical measure? What should our self-perception be based on? Once we can answer that question correctly, we know what the real value of our life is and why we are of inestimable value and potential in the eyes of God. At the same time, God’s word clearly shows we should not elevate ourselves above others in our own thinking!
by R. Herbert | Feb 4, 2015 | Knowledge & Wisdom
You may have known people who got offended at the concept Christians teach – that an individual’s mind must be “opened” to see the truth. To many it sounds almost insulting that they would not be “intelligent enough” to fully understand Christian belief. Nevertheless, the Bible does teach that no matter how intelligent we may be, we cannot understand spiritual things unless God “opens our mind.”
The ancient biblical writers did not talk about opening the “mind,” of course, as that is a modern concept. Instead, writers in both the Old Testament and New Testament used the expression to “open the eyes,” meaning the same thing. In fact, antiquated as it might seem, the concept works well because our eyes are already open and yet need to be “opened” – just as people’s minds can be functional, yet may need to be opened spiritually, too. That is why Jesus said: “I praise you, Father… because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25; see also Matthew 13:13-14).
That is why the work of the coming messiah was foretold in just these terms by the prophet Isaiah: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped” (Isaiah 35:5); “… to open eyes that are blind … to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:7). When Christ commissioned Saul – the apostle Paul – it was to do the same work: “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17-19).
So the opening of the human mind to fully perceive and understand spiritual things requires God’s help. We may know this, but the understanding calls for the use of wisdom in several areas of the Christian life. First, in sharing our faith we cannot expect people to understand the truth of God’s word unless God is opening their minds to see it. That is something to be kept in mind at all times. Trying to “help” or force people to understand spiritual realities cannot work unless God is already calling.
Second, we should remember that people’s eyes are not usually “opened” all the way at one moment in time. God is gracious in revealing to us what we can handle before helping us to move to the next level of understanding and responsibility. We should always remember to have the same patience with those we aspire to help in the knowledge of the truth.
Finally, we must constantly remind ourselves that the fact spiritual eyes are opened slowly and not all at once is something we must apply to ourselves daily. It is always easy to presume – at every stage along the way – that we know or understand “most things.” But the truth is, the further we progress along the road of Christian growth, the more we become aware that we still have so much more to learn, so much more to understand. That is why David prayed – as we should, too – “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18). It’s a prayer we never outgrow.
by R. Herbert | Dec 21, 2014 | Knowledge & Wisdom
“When [the shepherds] had seen [the infant Jesus], they spread the word concerning what had been told them [by the angels] about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen …” (Luke 2:17-20).
Have you ever contrasted, while reading these verses, the reaction of Mary – compared to that of the shepherds – regarding the birth of Jesus? Luke makes it clear that the shepherds were “sharing their testimony,” as we might call it, with everyone. On the other hand, Mary, even as the mother of Jesus, and as someone who had also been told things by an angel (Luke 1:26-38), and who had earlier shared this experience with her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56), remained silent on what had happened.
So why when the shepherds seem to have gone all out in sharing what they knew of the good news, did Mary stay silent? Some have said that as a woman her testimony would not have been accepted in that ancient culture, but there are plenty of instances in the New Testament of that not being the case (for example, John 20:18). It seems far more likely that given the situation regarding her son’s mysterious conception, it might appear that she was simply telling a story to cover what people humanly presumed had happened. In other words, the situation was different for Mary – the same event, the same knowledge of the truth, but different circumstances. Had Mary shared her testimony under those circumstances, it might well have led to the truth being doubted and defamed.
This story has obvious implications for our lives today. We fully understand that we should never fear to confess our faith or to share the gospel, but Mary’s example shows that this fact should be tempered by wisdom according to the circumstances. This spiritual reality is in harmony with the physical reality stressed numerous times, in different ways, in the Book of Proverbs. For example, “A prudent man conceals knowledge…” (Proverbs 12:23); and we see the principle at its most basic level, of course, in the reminder that there is indeed “… a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7).
When we look at the ministry of Jesus himself, we see that sometimes he spoke out regarding the truth, but sometimes he did not (for example, Matthew 21:23-27). He also instructed his followers “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6). This statement was allegorical, of course; but Jesus also instructed his disciples to move on when it was clear that people were antagonistic and had no interest in the truth of God (Matthew 10:11-14). “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves;” he said, “therefore, be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16); “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light” (Luke 16:8).
All these scriptures show a clear pattern of the use of wisdom in situations where the truth of God might be shared. In Mary’s situation, it would clearly have been problematic if she had spoken what she knew and, rather than God being glorified, her audience actually had been less likely to accept the truth. The truth of God is a wonderful gift to share, but it is one that should always be shared at an appropriate time and with wisdom.
by R. Herbert | Oct 22, 2014 | Knowledge & Wisdom
Emergency services personnel are judged by how quickly they respond to emergencies, Presidents are judged on how quickly they respond to crises, companies are judged on how quickly they respond to customer service requests, and kids are often judged by their peers on how quickly they respond to computer game prompts. In the age of now, speed is king in many areas of life, and rapid responses are desired everywhere.
Unfortunately, fast reflexes and rapid responses are not always good things. They may look cool in action movies, but when it comes to character and personality traits in everyday life, rapid responses are often counterproductive and harmful. That’s something that is stressed time and again in the Book of Proverbs – the Bible’s book of distilled wisdom for everyday living. Notice these few examples from some different areas of life:
Proverbs 18:13 To answer before listening – that is folly and shame.
Proverbs 19:2b … one who acts hastily sins. (HCSB)
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 25:8 Don’t take a matter to court hastily. (HCSB)
Proverbs 29:20 Do you see someone who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool…
It can be a valuable study to look through the verses mentioning “haste” and “hurry” in Proverbs, but it’s not just that biblical book that decries hasty thoughts, words and deeds. Notice what the apostle James says in the New Testament: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19-20 ).
Why is this – why does the Bible so often condemn rapid response behavior? The answer is simply because our first reactions are almost always our most human ones – the ones based in our own human nature; and as a result, our rapid responses can sometimes be rabid responses (Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 15:19).
The right response often needs time for us to get over our primary emotional reaction – time to get our brain in gear and to remember the principles we have learned of God’s way of life. It’s only then, after we have taken the seconds, minutes or even hours we may need to arrive at an appropriate response, that we can be confident that our reaction is the right one – and in most of our interactions with others, a right response is better than a rapid response every time.
So take heart – even if you don’t have the super-fast response times of an action hero or a game console warrior – you may be better off with slower responses! In fact, it can often be a good decision to leave rapid responses to the professionals who need them in their work. In our own personal lives we need right responses so much more!
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