Proverbs 21: 1-31
Friday, 28 October 2022
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.” -Proverbs 21:2
We live in a day when we are not only faced with making important decisions but also confronted with complex questions with all the technological advances and the morally laid-back atmosphere of our society. We are faced with making tough decisions on what is “right” and what is “wrong.” How will we make those decisions and what would these decisions be based on?
Let’s meditate part of our Scripture for today from Proverbs 21:2-8[NLT]: “People may be right in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their heart. The LORD is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin. Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap. The violence of the wicked sweeps them away, because they refuse to do what is just. The guilty walk a crooked path; the innocent travel a straight road.”
This is such a powerful section of Scripture for us who live in a day where there is no guidance, no boundary lines, no authority to lead us other than our own voice, our own hearts, our own minds, or whatever we think is best. Judges 21:25 says, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Each person did what was right in his eyes!! Is that your attitude in life? Do what you think is best for you regardless of what God’s Word says?? Romans 1:21 says, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” We see the results of such lives who do not give God the right place in their lives- a decline until they become owners of depraved minds leading to wickedness and evil. [Ref Romans 1:22-32].
All of our ways may seem right to us, but that doesn’t mean that they are right. Scripture teaches us that a godly person has his heart set on God and His ways. Doing what is right and just, being diligent, innocent, upright are a few characteristics of such people. People who only have a form of godliness but have not attained its true power would be people who do things as they please, as they seem right, seeking their own gain, having no regard for God or His Word. Haughty and proud, a lying tongue, refusing to do what is right, scheming and following deceitful ways are but a few characteristics of such people.
Everything flows from the heart—if our hearts are set on walking with God then godliness will flow like a mighty river in our lives. If our hearts are wayward and set on doing what we want rather than walking with God, then there is no limit to the depths to which we will sink in our relationship with God and with others. On the other hand, people who have experienced difficulties, gone through rough times in life, but chose to base their decisions upon God’s Word would testify of a life of peace, contentment, and trust in God’s Sovereign hand.
Are you drowning in your life because wrong decisions you made without God in it? Are you looking for the right direction in life? Jesus said, “I am the way, the life and the truth. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus knocks at the door of your heart today: Will you open your heart to Him? If you first make that life-changing decision today, God will empower your life this day forward to walk in His right way.
Think on: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)
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