Whoever Gets Sense Loves His Own Soul

Proverbs 19 (select verses)

“Whoever gets sense loves his own soul;

    he who keeps understanding will discover good.” V. 8 ESV

If we are people of good sense, we are people who exercise good judgment and wisdom and discernment. We do not live by (we’re not ruled by) our emotions. That doesn’t make us unfeeling people nor does it say that we never are drawn toward responding with our emotions. We are feeling people. But good sense lets us know that we can’t go just with how we feel, but we must go with what makes sense, with what is wise and discerning, and with sound judgment, especially in resisting the temptations of Satan.

And why does it say that whoever gets sense loves his own soul? Well, we read in the New Testament that those of us of genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ are to be those who have died with Christ to sin, who daily by the Spirit are putting sin to death, and who are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living. But then it goes on and tells us that if we don’t die to sin, but we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and if we don’t obey our Lord in righteous living, that we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

“Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life;

    he who despises his ways will die.” V. 16 ESV

Now many people today are teaching that we, under the New Covenant, do not have to obey the commandments of God (under the New Covenant). But we do! Just read the noted verses above. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father. And he said if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience (see Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26).

And then we read in 1 John 2:3-6 that if we claim to know God but we do not keep (obey) his commandments, that we do not know him, and we are liars if we say we do. And in 1 John 1:5-10 it says that if we claim to be in fellowship with God/Christ, but while we are still walking in (living in deliberate and habitual) sin, we are liars. And in 1 John 3:4-10 we read that if sin is our practice, and not righteousness, we don’t even know God, we are not born of God, but of the devil, and we do not have eternal life with God.

“Listen to advice and accept instruction,

    that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

    but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Vv. 20-21 ESV

So, we need to be people who listen to wisdom and instruction from the Lord. Example: Without naming names, yesterday I submitted a writing somewhere to be posted online which was Scripture verse after Scripture verse, and it was rejected, while at that same location (Christian based) other entries were accepted which were not supported with Scripture. So they chose to reject the Scriptures in favor of what is popular. But we need to not ignore the Scriptures which are meant for us, the church.

And I am not saying that we should just accept everything anyone tells us in the name of Jesus, even if they are quoting Scriptures. For many people quote Scriptures out of context and then twist them to say what they do not teach in context, and for the intended purpose to deceive and to lead people away from Jesus Christ and away from the truth of the gospel of Christ in order to follow after another Jesus and a different gospel from the Jesus and the gospel of the Scriptures. So we do need to test what we hear.

But we shouldn’t just summarily reject Scriptures which don’t fit in with our theology or which don’t fit with our lifestyles of choice. We need to be people who are searching the Scriptures and who are studying them in context and who are seeking the Lord for wisdom and guidance and who want to know the truth, so that we are those who obey the truth. But far too many people have decided what they will accept or not accept, and so they reject what they don’t want to believe, even if it’s as obvious as the nose on their faces.

“The fear of the Lord leads to life,

    and whoever has it rests satisfied;

    he will not be visited by harm.” V. 23 ESV

Now the fear of the Lord has to do with reverence, respect, honor, and obedience. It has to do with us taking him and his word seriously and applying the word of God, meant for us Christians, to our daily lives. We don’t just mouth empty words of confession of Christ as Lord, but we are the people of God who believe his word and who put it into daily practice, by the Spirit, through God-persuaded faith in Christ Jesus, in the power, strength, and wisdom of God. We are not living in deliberate and habitual sin.

For if we want to have eternal life with God and have heaven guaranteed us when we die, we need to be those who, by the grace of God, are walking in the ways of the Lord, who are dying to sin daily, and who are living for the Lord and for his righteousness. This does not make us perfect people, but we do not use lack of perfection ever as an excuse to continue in deliberate and habitual and even sometimes premeditated sin against our Lord and against other humans. But we obey our Lord, in practice, because we love him.

[See noted Scripture references above]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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