The theme of foolishness is woven into the stories of the Bible presenting us with insights into the nature of folly and its consequences. Often, our encounters with foolishness in the world around us might shape our perceptions, but it’s in the Word of God that we find a profound understanding of what it truly means to be foolish. Let’s delve into some key scriptures that illuminate the characteristics of a fool and guide us towards wisdom. …
The Lord does not want His children to live as hypocrites, and the scriptures provide us with many examples of what a hypocrite looks like to avoid being one! …
Our growth is not going to come by our effort to improve ourselves. On the contrary, Jesus told His disciples the key to growth in the Kingdom is abiding in Him. …
Our walk with the Lord is meant to be simple and organic. God uses us by placing his supernatural power and anointing upon our natural abilities. He chooses to use what is in our hands to be a blessing to others. We get to participate in the work of the Kingdom with what has been deposited in us spiritually as well as naturally. …
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.” Proverbs 1:29-33
This past week, I had a very interesting conversation with someone in regards to knowledge. She was advocating a form of Eastern meditation, and I challenged her on it since she claims to be a believer. She disagreed with me and insisted that knowledge is far wider than what the Bible tells us, and she felt that we should be open to other sources of knowledge.
This is exactly what the above scripture tells us about the dangers of knowledge apart from the fear of the Lord! Not every knowledge is valuable or fruitful. More importantly, some knowledge denies the existence of a holy God and what He declares good or evil. If we open the door to ungodly knowledge, it will cause us to veer off from God’s path and gradually we will find ourselves on a path of destruction. Furthermore, we open the door to the demonic world by coming into agreement with the lies of the enemy.
We live in a culture that the latest and greatest is the most popular. However, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The truth about spiritual matters does not change. The Lord does not change to accommodate our lust for the latest and greatest! His ways are tried and true! We have many witnesses from the Bible as well as history that confirms those who walk with God reap a harvest of righteousness. Their lives are more peaceful and stable! To the contrary, we also have the opportunity to learn from those who disregard God’s law and end up in all kinds of pain and bondage.
When we build our understanding of the world based on the fear and the love of God, we have a firm foundation that allows us to evaluate the information we consume appropriately. It doesn’t mean that we can’t look for other sources to gather information and gain knowledge; it just means that we evaluate everything through the prism of the Bible and the knowledge of the Lord!
There are millions of books out there that promise to provide us with knowledge. However, there is one book that is far greater and more powerful than any other book ever written in the history of mankind and that is the Bible! Do we value the knowledge that the Lord has provided for us through His word!? Do we allow it to form our worldview!?
The Lord has given every person the power of choice! People can choose to treasure His word or to seek after other knowledge outside of the boundary of God. The enemy will continue to whisper in people’s ear that they are going to miss out on something if they don’t pursue other kinds of knowledge. The enemy also accuses God of withholding good information from them. However, the above passage tells us that if we want to dwell safely and to be secure in life, we should listen to the Lord and seek His knowledge!
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend the garden and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17
After the Lord created Adam, He allowed Him to name all the animals and to tend the garden. Adam gained knowledge and understanding of his environment through his relationship with the Lord. He had no need for the knowledge of good and evil, for the Lord had provided everything good for him. He wasn’t missing out on anything that he needed to know. However, the serpent deceived Adam and Eve into thinking that they were missing out if they didn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent even told them that if they eat of it, they will become like God!
The truth is that Adam and Eve were already like God! The Lord had created them in His image! At the same time, Adam and Eve were designed to remain dependent on the Lord and gain knowledge in their relationship with God. The enemy tried to pull them away from their dependency on the Lord and have them seek knowledge independent from Him! This led them to rebellion.
In their perfect state, Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan to crave knowledge and seek it in an ungodly way. Anytime, we try to take matters into our own hands, we’re not allowing the Lord to lead and guide us! We have chosen to fulfill our own will apart from God’s will, and that’s called rebellion!
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.” Proverbs 1:29-33
The above scripture tells us that people hated knowledge and did not fear God! It wasn’t that people didn’t want to learn new things, but they wanted to do it apart from the fear of the Lord! Isn’t this what we see in our culture nowadays!? We do not have lack of education or knowledge in this country; we have variety of ways to seek and obtain them. People spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to prestigious schools in search of impressive education. Their hope is to gain knowledge and expertise, so they can gain good income and thereby build their dream life!
People are programmed to think that the way to success is through education and gaining knowledge. For many, their faith is that the knowledge will bring security and satisfaction. They cannot imagine that a personal relationship with our Creator can settles their hearts.
True knowledge will include God as the center of it all. Man’s minute and carnal understanding of his world is deficient and inadequate apart from the knowledge of his Creator and Savior! When we look to the Lord as the foundation for our lives, then the knowledge gained will be filtered through the knowledge of God, and consequently, the end result is to glorify God!
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
