Self-governed or God-covered (JustJeff

Self-governed or God-covered

Proverbs 1:31,32
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;

After years of reading Proverbs every day it's never ceases to amaze me the stuff that I still find in this book. There seems to be this theme for me beginning in May of warnings about not fearing God and following your own way. This is another one of those passages.

The section begins with with people calling out to God, but He does not answer. It says they seek Him didligently and do not find Him (v. 28). This appears to be in contrast with one of my favorite passages where God syas, "You will seek my and you will find me when you seek for me with all of your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13). But there is something different here. Vs. 24-25 says that God called out to these people and was ignored. That He offered His hand to help and was refused. That God's counsel and His insructions were viewed as irrelevant. I think this describes many people, and myself at times, who respond to God with, "I can figure this out. I can do it myself." Eventually this kind of thinking lands us in situations that are over our heads. Then we are left to suffer the consequences of a life that is self-governed instead of God-covered.

It's like a story my dad told me about when his dad caught him smoking as a kid. My grandfather did not get mad or upset. He just got a whole pack of cigarettes and gave them to my dad. The catch was my dad had to smoke the entire pack in one setting. Needless to say, that experience kept my dad from developpng his habit. I'm not trying to say that God in His infinite wisdom disciplines us us this manner. I am saying that He loves us enough to let us tastelife without him. Like the people in the passage, my dad was "filled to the full of his own fancy," so full in fact that it became repulsive.

This passage also warns agains the wisdom of other men. Vs. 32 seems to talk about when we place our confidence in the opinions of others above the counsel of God it wil lead to destruction. It's kind of like a rookie stockbroker who pitches a stock to a cold call, selling this unknown client on the company's "pitch of the day" that the broker has no personal inestment in - either the stock itself or the relationship with the client. His only goal is a sale. If the stock does well, he makes money. But if it does badly, then you are stuck with the loss. Continuing this analogy, if you aren't willing to do your own research, complacent to depend on the "wisdom" of others, destruction may be lurking.

Lord, let me be a man who responds to the call of wisdom. Pour out Your Spirit and make your words known to me (v. 23).

Posted by Jeff on July 1, 2003 12:00 AM | Permalink

Self-governed or God-covered

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