Yesterday, I was supposed to be in Proverbs Chapter 4 in my Proverbs 31 ministries devotion, it ended up not getting to read it, so I went back this morning and I am so glad I did. Of course, wisdom is again the theme…but I love how it correlates with what we talked about Wednesday evening at church even more from last week in earlier Chapters. Our teacher taught about compromise. I couldn’t help but think as I was sitting there in class how compromising is a result of lack of wisdom. Here’s something I wanted to share that I wrote down:
LAW OF FAITH: Anything you believe in your heart and say with your mouth you will have.
LAW OF COMPROMISE: Anything you compromise on the truth to get, you will lose.
Now, as I was reading this morning in verse 5, it says “Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words of my mouth.” Check this out…the Hebrew word for “get” in this context is qanah, which means to acquire goods through a transaction…The implication is that wisdom will cost you something. I thought about those above statements and realized, compromise costs you something…but you lose. Faith will cost you something…but you win!!! Mercy that’s good stuff.
You see, it’s easy to compromise (go against God’s Word) when you lack wisdom. Wisdom does cost us, dying to self and our own affections. Faith is holding tight to God’s instructions when other things try to pull us away. That cost is so much less that what we get in return from wisdom. It is life…and health to ones whole body..our spiritual body! (Verse 22).
Well, all that sounds well and good, but how do we not compromise. What do we do when we are standing at the Crossroads of Compromise and Faith? God tells us later on in the chapter how to fashion our life to travel towards wisdom:
Guard your heart: God says it is the source of life. We know if it stops beating, we are dead. Same goes for our spiritual heart. Everything that comes out of our mouth, and every action is a direct result of the condition of your heart. Guard it with God’s Word. If His words are hidden within your heart, you will always turn toward the direction of faith.
Watch your mouth: Now that’s a tough one! But remember…go back to guarding your heart. When your heart is focused on going the right way, your speech will follow. Trust me…it is a learning process and we may still stick our foot in our mouth (remember those peppermint shoes?), but when we are filling our hearts with wisdom we will be motivated to speak with language that is pleasing to our Lord.
Look forward: God wants you looking with you eyes straight ahead. What does looking straight ahead mean to the believer? It is looking toward the path of righteousness. It is focusing on becoming more like Jesus and less like this world. It isn’t on Compromise Road, my friend. Wisdom requires you to stay the course and not forget what God has told you, even when you can’t see it. Satan is good at throwing up road blocks or placing a a beautiful roadside distraction to get you off course. Don’t take your eyes off the road of Faith. Keep moving towards your destination.
Consider your path and watch your feet: Compromise will have your feet on a rocky path that God didn’t plan for you! Sometimes, we want to say that something was God’s will for us, when really it was that we chose to go against His will and His truth in our life. God is never going to take you somewhere that contradicts His Word or His will. How do you know if it’s His will? That’s where wisdom comes in, my friend. You will find everything you need in the pages of the Bible. If it doesn’t line up with scripture, it’s NOT His will for you. He’s not going to send you down a path that is evil. That’s not God. That’s all you AND that’s compromise.
Thank you Lord for your Word. We may change, we may compromise…but you are always the same. You never change and you always want what is best for your children. Thank you for giving me Your Word, which is my path to Wisdom. When I stand at the crossroads of Faith and Compromise, I pray my heart is always choosing Your way.