February 17

Feb 17 - Today from Proverbs 17 we look at verse 10
"A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool." (NIV) -
"A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool." (KJV)

I shared the King James Version of this verse because it gives a little more vivid word picture than the NIV. I think it's the phrase "entereth more into" that strikes me. When something enters into your heart, it becomes a part of you. It changes you. A wise man is continually seeking correct information. If he is operating with wrong information, and he is proven to be wrong, he accepts the rebuke and new information enters into his heart, replacing the improper assumption he may have been laboring under. He changes from the inside out and becomes even wiser. It is a genuine act of humility to accept the fact that one was wrong, and to exchange the wrong thinking for the right thinking.
Not so the fool. The fool is generally a self-serving person, which makes most of his thinking out of sync with the purposes for which he was created - to serve God and to serve others. That just doesn't make much sense to a fool. Self-serving people can end up in trouble with the law because they often violate the rights of others in pursuit of their self-interests. Take a thief (You shall not steal); whether it be a small-time shoplifter who would rather spend their time figuring out ways to take what they want rather than working and saving to get it, or the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation who just never seems to have enough so he cooks the books. Self-serving people violate the rights of others. We don't deal with corporal punishment in our civilized culture, so we have to find a substitute for 100 lashes. Perhaps a year in prison. Perhaps a 20 million-dollar fine. Regardless of what the punishment is, the proper lesson does not go into the heart of a fool. The fool may be persuaded not to repeat the crime - not because their heart was corrected, but because the pay-back was greater than the pleasure.
For instance, if a fool got caught stealing a $60 wristwatch and spent some time in jail, he probably wouldn't risk stealing another. But if he was faced with the opportunity to steal a $60,000 diamond necklace, he might consider taking the risk. There had been no change in the heart (nothing entered in), only in the stakes. If the fool truly allowed the correct information (moral law), to enter his heart in exchange for the corrupted information (self-serving), under which he had been suffering - he would no longer be a fool. And, he would no longer be a thief - no matter what the stakes. He would be on the road to wisdom.
1 Timothy 1:9 says, "The law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious." The man of discernment, or the wise man, seeks to allow correct information to change his heart. He becomes a law unto himself. The fool (lawbreakers, rebels, ungodly, sinful and irreligious), continues to seek to serve himself. Laws are made and enforced for his kind - to protect the rights of others. The last five of the Ten Commandments were given to protect the rights of others, and your rights from being violated by others. Love is the fulfillment of the law. If you love others and put them first, you fulfill the law and you are not in need of outside enforcement. That's what a wise and discerning man does. He puts the other first. You will see this principle in play throughout the book of Proverbs. You see this principle in play throughout the scriptures. You see this principle in play at the cross, where God Himself put you first. It is the very character of Jesus Christ - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 6:22, 23)
Pride is the greatest enemy of a rebuke. Humility is the open door of correction unto wisdom. The next time you are rebuked by God's Word, or a credible person of integrity, open up. Let it in and exchange it for the corrupted view it is meant to replace. You will grow to be more like your Redeemer. That’s His desire for you.