Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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13 March 2011
Proverbs 13
Focus: “The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace.” Proverbs 13:5.
I believe it’s good to always bear in mind the natural default settings of the human heart as disclosed by the ONE WHO KNOWS. And Jeremiah 17:9 is what HE KNOWS—even if it flies in the face of other ideologies (like humanism and the mainstream of modern psychology). “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?” It’s also good to bear in mind that many of those affected by this natural default setting DON’T BELIEVE that HE KNOWS what He claims HE KNOWS—or they don’t like what HE KNOWS. They believe THEY KNOW BETTER. But let’s get this straight: If God is in TRUTH the Sovereign Maker and Knower, they are, in fact, confirming what GOD KNOWS—fulfilling this description of 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12: “For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” Can you imagine a sadder arrangement than to believe the lie as though it was the truth?
We can all tell stories about someone who claimed to be RIGHTEOUS, who claimed to HATE WHAT IS FALSE, but somewhere along the line exposed the fact that they really had a secret LOVE affair with WHAT IS FALSE and WICKED and brought about incredible SHAME AND DISGRACE. So it’s not necessarily easy or foolproof to identify who is RIGHTEOUS and who is WICKED (unrighteous). RIGHTEOUNESS can be feigned, or pretended. Hypocrisy comes easily for the human heart that is already wired for deception.
The next verse offers some added insight for reconciling this problem. “Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner” (Proverbs 13:6). May I suggest that THE MAN OF INTEGRITY is made secure because he really and truly believes the truth—and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, INTEGRATES that belief into every crook and cranny of his life? RIGHTEOUSNESS is the result. That’s what Biblical INTEGRITY is. You don’t have to stretch your imagination too far to predict the results of one who INTEGRATES UNTRUTH (a LIE) into every part (or even a few parts) of their life. That’s what WICKEDNESS is. And it’s devastating!
“The truth is incontrovertible: malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” - Winston Churchill