Walking with the Wise #58: The Guardrails of Truth

“On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found,
but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.”

—Proverbs 10:13

Wise living means understanding how the world works and how we are to live for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). And understanding only comes from living according to God’s Word. God’s Word tells us how the world looks, operates, what it values and how we are to live in it. We learn that this world is fallen and has certain values that are antithetical to God’s Word (1 John 2:16). The Bible also tells us how we are as humans—we learn about our sinful desires (James 1:14), what sin is, and a host of other things. For those who choose to live according to God’s Word, there will be wisdom, freedom, peace, joy, etc. Because wisdom is the application of experience and since God is the author of life, He knows what experiences are good and bad. Therefore, to do what God says is good, there is blessing. To ignore God’s Word and warnings then is to invite disaster, destruction, and death.

Solomon says that the one who disregards God’s Word lacks sense and punishment waits. There are penalties for ignoring God’s Word, just as there are penalties for disregarding traffic laws. If I were to drive down the expressway at full speed and decide to disregard the guardrails and then attempt to go through them, I would be taking my life and the lives of many others into my hands. However, if I stay between the guardrails, then I am living within the parameters of blessing. Crossing the guardrails means punishment, and staying between the rails means blessing.

In what way are you living? Are you staying between the guardrails? Or are you disregarding them at your own peril? Don’t be a fool and let your earthly experience trump God’s truth. Look at your experiences through the lens of God’s truth. If we find our experience contradicting God’s truth, wisdom dictates evaluating both Scripture and experience. Either we misunderstood the Scripture that spoke to our experience, misapplied God’s truth in our situation, or we do not believe God’s Word enough to apply it in our situation. Seek and study God’s truth, making sure that when it is clear, you must apply it to your situation unreservedly.

May God enable us to live wisely, and may we trust in Him completely, making sure to apply His Word to our lives as we place our lives under His authority. And may He receive praise through our action as His name is magnified by our obedience and satisfaction in Him. Amen.