Chapter 12: Knowledge vs. Wickedness
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| Shelf Road | Canon City, Colorado |
Only the wise see
that discipline and structure will bring happiness and joy to their lives. It
is ingrained into our DNA to work and live a life of discipline. God created
Adam and Eve and told them to cultivate the rest of the world and make it like
the Garden of Eden. This was a blessing that he gave to us, work. (Wait a minute... that can't be right. Doesn't make any sense.) We long to
feel accomplished and successful, we want to spend our day toiling and be able
to enjoy the fruits of our labor, these are good gifts from God that bring us
joy in the end. Slothfulness never brings happiness or joy, only contentment.
We are to be rooted in righteousness and seek out opportunities to serve others,
wickedness is brewing in our hearts but we were not established as wicked
people, we chose to be. If we choose righteousness we will be rooted in Him and
focused on that which is Holy, not wickedness. We cannot do this perfectly
because we are born into sin and are raised in sin by sinful people, regardless
of how Godly our upbringing is we will be sinners. Words will show if your
heart is longing to be righteous or wicked. We speak without thinking a lot of
the time and this will usually reflect a heart that is wicked or desiring to
deceive. (I relate to this more than anyone else I have ever known. I want to be right so badly that I will come right out of the gate saying things that don't even make sense in order to try to convince others I know what I am talking about... why!) We feel the need to be seen as people who are wise and know
everything, therefore we speak with haste and do not take the time to register
the questions being asked to us. Why?
Because we have a pre-disposition that we know everything. This is our pride
showing through us as blatant as it can be seen. We don't know everything, we
are not wise beyond our years, on the grand scheme of all things that can be
known in the universe we are all dumb. Yes, some of us are more intelligent and
choose to learn a lot more than others, but if we compare the smartest person
on earth and add up all the things they know and then compare it to the number
of things that can be known, no one is wise.
The idea behind Proverbs 12 comes down to this idea of choosing to be righteous in
all areas of life as often as you can instead of choosing wickedness. It is a
choice. We need to break it down to every interaction you have, every thought,
every distant remembrance of something that stirs your affections for either
righteousness or wickedness. This isn't an easy thing to do, no one wants to
reflect on how they interact with others, no one wants to analyze their
thoughts genuinely for what they are and realize that their good deeds usually
end up looking like the filthy rags they are in the end. We want to feel good
about ourselves and seek happiness, regardless of whether or not it is real and
genuine. Disney has painted an idea for all of us Americans that we can find
happiness, joy, success, and all of our dreams will come true if we simply wish
upon a star or come to Disney World. This isn't real! It is a lie, they want to
convince you that your joy is wrapped up in doing things that stimulate the mind
and warm the heart, it is a false hope. Life is not about finding happiness in
every moment of every day, it is about finding joy in the concept that Christ
died for our sins and granted us the freedom to live a life that isn't about
finding happiness, that doesn't revolve around attempting to be better people,
but a life that is reflected by giving up of one's self for others and choosing
to live a life a humility regardless of your scenario. We are called to be
joyous, loving, giving people! (Speaking to those who see Christ as their Lord
and Savior.) If you don't believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, or that
God created all things and holds them together merely with the power of His
voice, or that the Bible is the divine word of God, you shouldn't really care
about what others think of you. I know I wouldn't? If this life is all there
is, and to quote Carl Sagan: "The cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be." then we
should be seeking happiness and whatever we want every minute of every day of
every year of our lives. We shouldn't want to help others unless it helps us.
We shouldn’t sacrifice anything, we should take in order to be happy. Because
if this is all there is - why on earth would I try to help others? It isn't
logical. If I am up for a promotion at work, yet I know that I would be gaining
this position due to false pretenses because I found an error in something I
have performed work on that nobody else has discovered, I should not care about
it, I should lie and accept the promotion that will come with a better title
and more money because it isn't about what is right or wrong, it is about what
is best for me. However, there are a lot of people, who are not Christians, who
still realize there are morals and they may admit the problem and accept
whatever consequences come their way, why?! Because there are things hard-wired
into us that give us an understanding of right vs. wrong and we know this deep
down, yet we try to hide it. God grants all of us common grace and He reveals
Himself to all of us in one way or another. Please hear me when I say this:
Christians are not special, we are not better than anyone, we are not Holier,
we are all sinners saved only by the Grace of Jesus Christ, He came because we
are all stuck in our sins and we had no chance of resolving our own issues by
our own merit. Yes, we are constantly sinning and there is a lot of people out
there professing to love Christ as their Lord and Savior yet they make a lot of
terrible choices, great news, we have churches filled with sinners, we can
welcome you in with open arms and confess our sins together and try to overcome
them through fellowship, prayer, and God's blessing (ps. God's blessing does not mean a penthouse, a tesla, or doing well in the stock market, we are not speaking of God making you rich). You are forgiven, you were
forgiven, and you always will be forgiven, just seek His face. He doesn't want
you to try to clean yourself up prior to coming to Him, He died on the cross
brutally so that you could come to the cross regardless of how bad you believe
you are, He loves you, unconditionally.
Dear Lord, as I started a fight against something that is out to destroy my cells and overtake my body, I am reminded that you control all things and you would never give me anything more than you can handle in me. I long for clarity on the why behind it, I understand that you place things in my life to draw me closer to you, I hope that you will do the same through this event. It isn't my place to question you, but I am in a state of confusion around it. Draw me towards you through my pain and suffering and show me more of you through this circumstance. Restore broken relationships, heal burdens that others have bared because of me, release the grip that sin has on my life and those around me through this time. Amen.
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