“The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.” Proverbs 26:16
Devotional Thought For The Day
Laziness extends to intellectual activity as well as physical labor. In that wisdom is also spiritual in nature, it is obvious that laziness, hypocrisy, self-delusion, and the attempt to hypocritically deceive others is a deep and dark spiritual ailment. Sadly, we see much of this. In academia it can be identified, rooted out, and removed, though with tenure it often is not. Within the church, the process of removing such a sluggard is far more difficult and often appears to be overkill – unless the sluggard is persistent in trying to pervert the faith of others. So we end up living with them – for such ignorant people seem impervious to the shame of being gently corrected for their foolishness and bravado over and over again – and in their own mind they remain far wiser than anyone else, and compelled to dispense their “wisdom” to the poor masses. We want to exercise caution lest we “quench a dimly burning wick.” [Is. 42:3] On the rare occasions that they might actually take up a book or hear a lecture or an explanation, it seems to do them little good; convinced of their own greatness they are fearful to truly consider any other ideas or allow other thoughts to penetrate their mind, lest their genius be compromised, confused, and eroded with facts and truth. Lord, have mercy!
Of course, such intellectual and spiritual laziness inheres in all of us. This is why the lure of “immediate revelation” [direct communication from God], and “intuition” [our inner common sense], or some human authority or guru, is so compelling – we don’t have to do any of the hard work of rigorously comparing and contrasting such “wisdom” with the written Word of God, the actual words chosen by the Holy Spirit. We can just make up explanations as we go along, conforming [twisting] the written Word of God, the Bible, to our own great “wisdom” – regardless of how facetious and ridiculous this “wisdom” is. And then even seven reasonable, edified, and sanctified teachers can’t convince us. We remain “wiser,” in our own eyes, than our friends, teachers, counselors, and pastors, yes wiser even than God Himself – but it is all confined to our own minds, and we are alone unless we can gather together with other such deluded sluggards. But the vulnerability and danger and blasphemy of doing this is evident to everyone except the sluggards.
So we have the constant urging of Holy Scripture to continue our reading, hearing, and studying of the actual Word of God, that written in the Bible. This alone assures that we will be hearing the truth in regard to being “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” and also prepared for “every good work.” [2 Tim. 3:15-17] So Jesus promises that truth is obtained only by continuing in His Word, and that only this truth can free us from enslavement to foolishness and sluggardliness. Only we must take care not to block the entrance of God’s Word into our hearts – and we should humbly pray God to force His Word and wisdom into our hearts each time we take up His Word. It is a dastardly and damnable thing to take up God’s Word with the predetermined goal of perverting it to conform to that foolishness that we have already deemed to be “wisdom,” so that from the start we are impervious to its instruction and correction – as is the case with the cults. Lord, have mercy! No, God’s book is by far bigger, wiser, holier, and more knowledgeable than any mere human being, and if we approach it humbly and piously, eager for God to instruct us and bless us, we will continue to be freed from foolishness and granted real wisdom. Jesus has promised this. [John 8:31,32]
Taking short cuts intellectually is just as obvious as doing shoddy work. It is just as deceptive and thieving and wicked. Let us pray God to grant us greater integrity and greater eagerness and energy in learning His Word, humbling ourselves to receive and to learn from Him. A little genuine knowledge from God, from His Word, the Bible, the sure foundation of His gracious love and salvation received by faith, and His clear instruction in regard to right and wrong, is far greater treasure than the most sophisticated prevarication and hypocritical foolishness. Thus the simplest little Christian is wiser than the cleverest sluggard; and the wise can see this and they rejoice in it!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, we often grow weary in our study of Your Word, and the correction of Your Word exhausts our sinful nature. Grant us greater zeal and energy, greater integrity and desire for the truth of Your Word. Preserve us from all temptations to settle for the pseudo-wisdom of the intellectually dishonest, and true wisdom in dealing with sluggards, especially the cults and false prophets. Grant us joy in the amount of genuine wisdom You have given us, the joy of Your free gift of forgiveness and salvation, and help us to cherish this wisdom more highly than anything else. Amen.