Plans of the Diligent

For Friday, April 13, 2007
Proverbs 21:5

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

This is a practical proverb to guide you today. It could make the difference between an action that leads to long-term blessing or long-term regret. Like a beautiful house built on poor land, many options look appealing but hide disastrous consequences. Many ideas seemed good "at the time," but proved to be foolish as time went on. Remember verse 2: "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes." All the more reason then to prayerfully study, seek counsel, and plan. Many couples who come to me with troubled marriages are those who hastily married. Their passion at the time made marriage seem right and easy. How many people have switched jobs on impulse or moved to another town because at the moment they felt restless, only to become even more miserable?

Impulse is not necessarily bad and can provide a healthy spice in our routine. There are times when "the Spirit moves" and we should act. But when acting on impulse becomes the routine way of making decisions, then we are setting ourselves up for disaster. We will make bad decisions, and we will earn a reputation of not being trustworthy. There are persons who master diligent planning in the workplace, but let their emotions lead them in their personal lives. It is a mistake to treat family and friends as workplace projects for diligent planning; but it is a greater mistake to "wing it" in choosing a life-long mate, keeping a marriage vibrant, and raising a family.

When we think about it, we reveal how important anything is to us by the careful thought we give to it. Whatever grabs our interest is what we will plan to get, keep, and nurture. What has your interest now?

Lamp of the Wicked

For Thursday, April 12, 2007
Proverbs 21:4

Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
the lamp of the wicked, are sin.

Scripture makes clear God's displeasure of pride which is the root sin of the wicked. They will not humble themselves before God. This is played out in various ways, most notably through the violence committed against others.

The proverb reveals how pride mars their perspective on reality. Pride is the lamp by which the wicked see what is outside themselves. What do they see? They see people to despise who don't measure up to their distorted standards. Conversely, the see others to admire who in reality model arrogance and wickedness. A notable author whose works are rife with licenscious sex visited a city noted for its licensciousness. Whereas most people would see the obvious vulgarity, broken lives, and despicable behavior, he saw it as the ideal city. Compare this proverb to verse 2: "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes..." The proud wicked believe they are acting in accord to what is right in their own eyes which see by the lamp of haughtiness and pride.

All the more then humble yourself before the Lord. The Christian, too, is guilty of pride when he views his neighbor with haughty eyes, like the Pharisee looked upon the publican. We are easily proud that we see what our unbelieving neighbors do not. We act with great surprise that they do not see what we do. Why can't they understand the gospel? Why can't they know what is right from wrong? The answer is that they are no different from us. Without the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts providing the lamp of God's truth, we would not "get it" either. And even with the Spirit within us, we still see to much with distortion out of our own pride. Indeed, we have less excuse than our unbelieving neighbor for our pride.

Better Than Sacrifice

For Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Proverbs 21:3

To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

For commentary, read these other scriptures:

"When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations--
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil, learn to do good;
seek justice, correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow's cause" (Isaiah 1:12-17).

"I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:21-24).

"With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:6-8)

Hearts Weighed

For Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Proverbs 21:2

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the heart.

Note two insights in this proverb in relation to a Christian. First, a Christian will defend his behavior either through using scripture for justification or by appealing to conscience. I've listened to a husband defend being critical of his wife by appealing to Ephesians 5:25-27 which refers to Christ has sanctifying the church. Likewise, Christians have defended rude behavior as being bold for Christ and zealous for truth. In every case, the person believes he is doing what is right. In his own eyes, he is being faithful to God.

Second, the Lord weighs the heart. He weighs the heart, not the action. He weighs the true motive of the Christian, not what the Christian thinks is his motive. The mistake of the Christian is to believe that he looks within his own heart with clear sight. That is precisely what we are weakest at doing. We cannot weigh our own heart. Only God can do so.

What is the practical input of this reality - that we see a favorably distorted view of ourselves and only the Lord weighs with accuracy the heart? It should make us humble. It should make us slow to make judgment of others, especially to make unfavorable judgments of others in relation to ourselves. We should be zealous to study God's Word so that it shines a light on our hearts. We should never be quick to defend our hearts, knowing that we may very well be wrong. Even when we may be accurate about what we do see in ourselves, we never do know the full picture. Again, only the Lord weighs truly the heart.

Finally, it should lead us to rely wholly on the mercy of God. If God were to measure out justice according to what he weighs in our hearts, we would all perish. God weighs and then he measures out to us according to his mercy. Have you thanked him today for such mercy?

The Heart in the Hand

For Monday, April 9, 2007
Proverbs 21:1

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.

As a farmer irrigates his fields by creating canals to control the direction of the water, so the Lord provides for the fields of the earth by directing the hearts of rulers. Whether these rulers may be righteous or wicked, devout or profane, they nevertheless serve the deeper purposes of God. So it was with Pharoah, Cyrus, and Artaxerxes. This was the lesson that Nebuchadnezzar learned. However events may appear to be occurring; however mighty the wicked may appear to be and the righteous appear not to be, understand that the very heart of everyone is in the hand of the Lord.

Thus, when you must appear before a "ruler" in your life, pray for God to direct his heart. God is not like us who must hope that by acting in one way, he can get a ruler to act as he wants. God controls the very heart. He is not dependent on outside influence. I am always amused when I hear a prayer by which the pray-er gives God counsel about how to get someone to do his will. Instead of bidding God to do what he deems is necessary, we will advise God as to what events are necessary to take place. We let God know that "the only way to get Bob to change is to..." God merely needs to change the heart, impossible for us but simple for him.

Pray for God to do his will, without giving advice on how to accomplish it. And trust God to do his will. Just as we do not have the wisdom to give God counsel, neither have we the discernment to understand all the ways his will is being carried out. It is not necessary for us to understand all of God's ways. We need merely to be like the child who trusts his father to know what is best and do what is best. We need to know that not only the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, but that we are held in the palm of his hand.