Post by Emmanuel A. O. on Apr 29, 2013 11:16:54 GMT 1
Of Rights and Wrongs TEXT: proverbs 15:1-15
“Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die” (Proverbs 15:10).
Various issues covered in today’s passage appear disparate on the surface, yet one string runs through them all. Wisdom is the central theme. It is the presence or absence of it that leads to peace or strife, to appropriate or inappropriate speech, to good counsel or a wrong one, and to right or wrong conduct, with opposite consequences.
The soft answer; useful correction; stability of the righteous; the contented mind: all these, though desirable, are wanting in many a man today, as it has been in ages past. Let us watch it: gentleness will often disarm the most furious, where positive derangement has not taken place; one angry word will always beget another. But most people will not settle for that approach.
God sees all things by His omnipresence. If the consideration that His eye is in every place appalls those whose hearts are not right before Him, they may not be committing iniquity. To the upright, this would encourage them to continue in the right path.
God has warned that people’s attendance on the ordinances of God, and performance of the ceremonies of religion, are an abomination to Him if the heart is not right with Him, and the observance does not flow from a principle of pure devotion. No religious act will suffice in the place of holiness to the Lord.
What a challenge to be upright and to pray! But who is the upright man? The man who is weary of sin, and sincerely desires the salvation of God; he who has already received a measure of that salvation and live by the principles and precepts of God’s word. Hence it is said in verse 9, “He loveth him that followeth after righteousness.”
Thought for the day:
Man’s ways lead to destruction.
“Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die” (Proverbs 15:10).
Various issues covered in today’s passage appear disparate on the surface, yet one string runs through them all. Wisdom is the central theme. It is the presence or absence of it that leads to peace or strife, to appropriate or inappropriate speech, to good counsel or a wrong one, and to right or wrong conduct, with opposite consequences.
The soft answer; useful correction; stability of the righteous; the contented mind: all these, though desirable, are wanting in many a man today, as it has been in ages past. Let us watch it: gentleness will often disarm the most furious, where positive derangement has not taken place; one angry word will always beget another. But most people will not settle for that approach.
God sees all things by His omnipresence. If the consideration that His eye is in every place appalls those whose hearts are not right before Him, they may not be committing iniquity. To the upright, this would encourage them to continue in the right path.
God has warned that people’s attendance on the ordinances of God, and performance of the ceremonies of religion, are an abomination to Him if the heart is not right with Him, and the observance does not flow from a principle of pure devotion. No religious act will suffice in the place of holiness to the Lord.
What a challenge to be upright and to pray! But who is the upright man? The man who is weary of sin, and sincerely desires the salvation of God; he who has already received a measure of that salvation and live by the principles and precepts of God’s word. Hence it is said in verse 9, “He loveth him that followeth after righteousness.”
Thought for the day:
Man’s ways lead to destruction.