Stupidity Or Wisdom — It’s A Choice
PLEASE read these verses from Deuteronomy 4:
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
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These are great verses that we as God’s people need to reconsider and reimplement. And yes, I do mean the “re” implication that we are not now doing and being as we should.
First off:
I can’t believe what I see revolving around us these COVID-19 days. We as a nation are freely and willingly handing over our American rights and liberties to the powers that be. And the “powers that be” are listening to the powers that shouldn’t be. Like, for instance, Bill Gates and his asinine desire to vaccinate everybody in our country … and beyond.
Why are we giving any credence to folks like him when it comes to our nation’s decision making processes? Possible answer. Could it be … money?
He (and others like him) wields a lot of clout because of the money he has and the influence he has had upon our daily lives for so many years. Money IS power. Money DOES influence. And, “the love of money IS the root of all evil.” (I Timothy 6:10)
And while I’m at it :-)
Why are popular celebrities authorities about any and all issues? Who put these people, and others, in such a position of influence over us?
WE DID!
Secondly:
I can understand why a lost world that has rejected its Creator and His instructions can act as stupid as they do. That’s what the Bible states in Proverbs 9:10:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
If there’s no beginning to something there can be no continuation of something. “Wisdom” and “understanding” can only come to us through our Creator. He designed us and knows how we should function. He has even graciously provided us with the Manual.
By way of everyday example, every husband knows that not following the instructions for assembling that fascinating piece of IKEA furniture is just plain STUPID. I think you can see my logic. We need instructions.
But what I can’t understand is the level of willingness on the behalf of God’s people to just roll over and yield their rights and liberties. And it’s being done with very little, if any, pushback or resistance.
Instead, Christians are dutifully doing what they’re told to do … and here’s where I’m headed … without giving any thought to checking the Bible.
God gave us His Manual so we can determine what He has to say about stuff, all kinds of stuff, all kinds of vitally important stuff. And if we don’t find out what it says and act accordingly we, by default, give up our biblical rights as well.
In the past I’ve referred to one of my favorite childhood influences, Ranger Andy. His song “You’ll find it in the Bible/You’ll find it in the Bible/You’ll find it in the Bible ’cause you know it’s there” greatly impacted me. He understood the Bible is where we are supposed to go for instructions, for directions. We should too.
Speaking of looking to the Bible for stuff …
At some point in the history of mankind, a discovery was made that washing hands before eating or surgery might be a good thing. What helped in figuring that out? Somebody realized that’s what the Bible said a along time ago.
And, how about this one? “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” Seems like God already knew something we needed to know. And He put it in a Book for us.
My point:
Why aren’t God’s people pouring over the Book any longer to find answers and directions for their everyday lives? Why aren’t Christian parents, for example, searching the Scriptures to see what God our FATHER says about rearing children? That’s what parents did a long time ago before the proliferation of so many other available options.
And that’s what we still should be doing in relation to all aspects of our lives and living.
Instead we first go online, read books, see counselors, get on medication, put our kids on medication (yes, there are times that is needed), call our friends, maybe ask …. It’s almost endless.
But don’t get lost in the weeds here. You understand what I’m saying.
In one of my previous blogs I talked about the face mask frenzy that has gripped us. OK, I get it. But, one of my first thoughts was to see if the Bible had anything to say about wearing face masks. Well, I found something. Nope, not saying it again. Interested? “You’ll find it in the Bible/You’ll find it in the Bible/You’ll find it in the Bible ’cause you know it’s there.”
Back to my point.
My point is … we as God’s people have fallen out of the practice of looking first-and-foremost to the Word of God for directions and answers.
We have no excuse, or reason, for being and acting as stupid as the world around us. And that’s just what God told Israel:
“for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
I’m afraid they’re not saying that about us Americanized Christian folks anymore. It’s a fact. That’s not conjecture.
They don’t look to us any longer because they realize we’re ‘stupider’ than they are. We’ve lost the right to be heard because we’ve denied the lived-out practice of our faith in our daily lives. How do they know that? Because we do exactly what we’re told to do … BY THEM.
Don’t forget: Satan believes in God and trembles. (James 2:19) He, his devils, and his people know what we’re supposed to look like, how we’re to act, and how we are to think.
And for some crazy reason it appears we’re the confused ones, not them.
Stupidity or wisdom, it IS your choice.