Do Beliefs Really Matter?
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but it the end it leads to death.”
Proverbs 14:12
The first observation to be made from this truth is that the ideas, judgments, and wisdom of men are not to be trusted. The infallible guide to truth is not the collective wisdom of people, nor the standard of one human, nor even the decisions and choices of my own heart, for the Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all else; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)This being the case, I must have some other objective standard, one that does not come from me or from other men (humans).
The second observation to be made is the finality and fatality of a wrong choice. The way that is thought to be right leads to death. The Bible doesn’t say that the results consist of one or two bad consequences. Nor is it a matter of simply choosing the lesser over the greater, of a desirable consequence over a less desirable one. The end is death. In the biblical sense of the word, this points to spiritual death. We are reminded of the finality and fatality of a way that seems right to us.
Putting these two thoughts together, we are taught that ways of men that “seem right” lead to death. We can make a wrong choice and that choice is fatal.
Does it matter what you believe?
What do you think?
Or, I should say, “What does the Bible say?”
P. S. Do you know that this same statement is given twice in the book of Proverbs? It’s found in Proverbs14:12 AND 16:25. It seems like the Lord really wants us to hear - and to heed - this warning, doesn’t it?
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I laughed when I saw this post because I have, in the past, attended Sunday School classes in which someone would read a Bible verse or passage and then ask the class, "How does that make you feel?"
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was usually something like, "I don't really care what these other messed-up people feel about this scripture. I'd rather go farther into the scripture itself than waste time on my feelings about it."
I try to catch myself as a group leader before I ever ask the group, "How do you feel about this verse?" But sometimes I still backslide on that ;-)