Passage Read: Proverbs 18-21
Meditation Verse: 21:30
Thought
Men argue and debate what is and what is not. They even argue and debate the meaning of God's Word and the intent of His heart. As wise as men think they are and as successful as they think they are in turning God's words against Him, they can never succeed against the Lord. They can never stand before Him and argue their case and win against Him. He alone is the judge and He is perfect in knowledge and wisdom and righteousness and holiness. What He calls true and right is true and right, never to be moved. So no matter how wise or clever a man thinks he is, he will lose against the Lord, if he has not given himself completely to follow and serve the Lord. The wisdom and understanding of man cannot overthrow the Lord. Men who cast off His oversight and authority are only deceiving themselves. On the day of their departure or the return of Christ, they will discover how useless their arguments were. They will have wasted their lives and destroyed their eternity by their own stubborn arrogance.
Application
Better to be a fool in the eyes of men and carefully follow all the Lord decrees than to fear the opinion of men and throw away my eternity. No matter how smart I think I am or how smart I think someone's argument against the plain meaning of Scripture may be, I would do better to submit myself to the plain meaning of Scripture than by the so-called wisdom of man go against it. There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel that can succeed against the Lord. He will not admit error or confess He hadn't thought of something we consider a new idea. "There is nothing new under the sun." It's pure arrogance to think we know better than God, that He made mistakes in the record of His thoughts and acts and instructions for mankind. The only question I need to ask is, How do I put into practice what He has instructed? Not, Do I still need to obey this? His Word makes clear what still applies and what doesn't. And if my obedience to some command makes others uncomfortable or angry, better to anger them than God.