November 17

Nov 17 - Today from Proverbs 17 we look at verse 24
"A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth."

According to the original Hebrew language, the definition for discerning in this verse is to mentally separate, or to distinguish. The KJV uses the term 'a man of understanding.' The Bible teaches that we live in a fallen world and everything in it is tainted by corruption. This world system functions in spiritual darkness. Man is on a continual quest for enlightenment. He searches everywhere. He seeks enlightenment through religion. He seeks enlightenment through science. He seeks enlightenment through knowledge. He seeks enlightenment through mysticism. He seeks enlightenment through his own psyche. Throughout the centuries man has pushed his shopping cart down the aisles of 'awakening', picking and choosing from any or all of these various forms of discovery, and then puts together his own form of enlightenment. In spite of all his effort, without viewing life the way God intended it, the light he so fiercely embraces is still darkness. Jesus makes clear reference to this in Matthew 6:23 where He says, "If your eyes are bad, you whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
There is only one way by which man is able to separate the light from the darkness. The Psalmist declares, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105). Then there's God's revelation through John; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." (John 1:1). "In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men." (John 1:4). "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." (John 1:14). "I am the way the truth and the life." (Jesus, John 14:6). "Your word is truth." (Jesus, John 17:17).
In order for any man to have proper understanding, he must have God's revelation of life. In the Old Testament, man could know God's revelation through ‘the law’, the written Word. The gospel and the outpouring of His Spirit was still a mystery. The law and the prophets were still the only light in the world. A discerning man was discerning because he kept wisdom in view. He studied God's law and applied it to his life. This gave him the light he needed to separate that which was deceit from that which was truth. It was not able to save him, but it was able to keep him on the safe path, the path of understanding. No wonder the Psalmist expressed such love and compassion for God's word in Psalm 119. Virtually every one of the 168 verses mentions God's word in some fashion or another.
Our first task as believers is to discipline ourselves to keep wisdom in view. We are to seek God and His Light through His Word on a regular basis. If we don't, the darkness will creep in and the light will gradually diminish without us even knowing it. We will lose our ability to separate moral right from wrong, and we will wander off the path of understanding. It's not a good place to be -- even for a blood-bought, heaven-bound saint! KEEP wisdom in view. As New Testament believers, we have an added benefit. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit who has baptized us into Christ Jesus. We have the opportunity to walk with Him each day in a living and vital relationship. ABIDE in Christ. He is perfect wisdom. We have access to the discernment of the Holy Spirit. What a blessing!
Our second task as believers is to bring the Light to those who continue to stumble in the darkness. Jesus revealed that He didn't come to judge them, neither should we. Instead, He brought them Light. He preached and taught the kingdom of God for over three years. When He sent the Holy Spirit, following His death and resurrection, He ignited the word Peter preached and three thousand people received the Light of Life that very day (Acts 2:41). Peter reaped where Jesus sowed. Our task is still to labor in His fields, both sowing and reaping. Imagine all of the people around you today, pushing their shopping carts up and down the dead-end aisles of darkness in this world, seeking for some way to enlightenment. Everything they put in that cart and place their trust in is death. Apart from the gospel, they are already condemned. The Light you bear does not condemn -- it pardons. Share it. If they reject it, you have done your best. Who knows, someone may come in the future and reap that which you have sown. When that happens, God gets the glory! And that is the reason for our being.
Keep wisdom in view for yourself, and seek to bring others to the Light so that they too might grow in understanding.