The end justifies the mean. Right? That's the world's view. If I got what I want, then it doesn't matter how I got it.
The path of the world is so seductive, so insidious, so subtle that it is easy to get sucked into it's logic. Here's the problem with that: There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death. Remember that one from chapter 14?
Solomon lays out deep truths about personal integrity in Chapter 20 that can be transformational if we'll honestly assess our lives and then apply these verses to them.
Did any of these verses make you stop and think? Which ones and why?
I can't help noticing some verses that pair up nicely:
ReplyDelete5 "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out." [purpose: n., reason; aim; goal; intention; determination.]
27 -- The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.
Here we are back to motives again, which are sometimes buried so deeply they require a deliberate, intentional "drawing out." In view of what Scripture says about disparity between our actions and our hearts, I hear this verse saying that a little introspection now and then is a good thing! Was Solomon perhaps thinking of his father's words in Psalm 139 when he wrote the words in verse 27? I wonder. It's never very hard for us to see what's wrong with other people, but we can be pretty blind sometimes to what really makes us tick -- or ticks us off. God can reveal some amazing things to us about ourselves if we are willing to take the time, either alone or with a wise and perceptive friend... someone "of understanding." A reflective listener can be invaluable!
20:29 "The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old."
19:2 "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way."
Many times I've heard someone say that "youth is wasted on the young" (translation: "All that energy and not a clue how to use it appropriately!"). The reverse condition: "wisdom is wasted on the aged" (translation: "All that knowledge and no energy to put it to work!") I hear Solomon saying both of us need each other: the youth needs the knowledge of a wise mentor, and the senior saint needs to impart wisdom to one with the energy, the zeal,to make things happen!
Vs. 4 - A sluggard does not plow in season;
ReplyDeleteso at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
This is a reminder to me that I will not harvest where I have not put in the work. Human tendency is to offer 75% work and 25% hope in an attempt to reap a 100% harvest. We hear from this proverb that It just doesn't work that way.
It's a good reminder to me to not expect fruit from a half-hearted effort.
Verse 20 makes me shudder. Verse 27 makes me want to have more of the Holy Spirit controlling my life. Verse 30 is really making me hurt because when I stumble and fall, I beat myself up more times than an MMA participant. May God protect me from the suckerpunches and body shots that the enemy gives me when I beat myself up.
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