Recently, someone sent me the following: Have you ever
felt stupid? I’ve caught myself saying, after having done
something stupid,
“Man, that was stupid.” Forest Gump stated,
“Stupid is as stupid does.” What
makes a man stupid, or what makes a not-so-stupid person do stupid
things.
Solomon told us: “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge,
but he who hates
correction is stupid” (Proverbs 12:1 NKJV).
Sometimes, we do stupid things because we have not
heeded proper instructions. You fellows know what I’m talking
about. We open
the box of some gadget that we think we can’t live without,
lay the
instructions aside and dive into connecting wires, putting this here
and that
there until we realize something is wrong; its not going to work.
A lot of people treat faith that way. They jump right
into it, doing this or that, whatever seems reasonable to them, having
taken
the “instruction booklet”—the Bible and
laid it aside somewhere out of the way
so it will not get in the way.
The end result of such actions is that one has a faith
built upon the opinions and feelings of men, and not on what God has
commanded
or authorized. However, faith that saves comes when one hears and heeds
the
Word of God. When one hates correction and instruction, the Book itself
says
that such a person is stupid. Do you
love biblical knowledge, or are you stupid?
God's Word Keeps from Sin
By
Ernest S. Underwood
The 119th Psalm is a treasure trove to those who love
God and want to do His will. In verses 9 and 11, there is timely
advice to both young and old alike. Verse 9 reads, “How can a young man cleanse
his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” Verse 11 says, “Your word I
have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!”
What great teaching! When it seems that so many of our
nation’s young people are giving themselves to sin and sensuality, these words
are like a breath of fresh air, telling them how to really have a life worth
living. What better advice can a parent give than to tell young people to truly
respect God’s Word, and take heed to it?
When one has his heart full of God’s Word, he can
resist the daily temptations that come. When Jesus was tempted, He responded to
each temptation with “It is written.”
Do your young people know more about sensuality than
salvation? Do they know more about the so-called rap and rock stars than they
know about the “Star of Bethlehem?” If so, what a terrible, terrible shame.
