Reading
SAA Notes
These proverbs cover a wide range of life from personal wisdom, to behaviour before those senior to you in your employment, to mission statements, to dealing with fools.
SJA Notes
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Do we have a false perception of ourselves, that we are better than we are?
What is the answer for people who think they are saved because they are good people?
In this reading we have,
“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”
And in Matthew chapter 22 Jesus tells us, of people like this, that they will be cast into the outer darkness,
“In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This is a clear warning for us!
And yet how easy it is for us to slip a foot sideways on the narrow path – A little glimmer of pride in self, a sprinkle of self-worth in our thoughts, building our identity earthly things.
This is why we need God’s word, why we must continue to come back to the only mirror that always tells us the truth.
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Oh that we would hear our King Jesus say “Come up here,” rather than “Leave this place.”
* Sovereign God,
You are _holy_. We are _broken_.
Not even a day or hour or moment goes by without our sin and wrongdoing tainting our thoughts, our words, our actions.
Thank You then that not a moment passes without Your Spirit at work, through all things, working for our good.
Please mark us as a humble people Lord, recognising our desperate need for You, our utter inability to save ourselves.
May we see Jesus today – The true captain of our souls, the only master of our fate.
Amen.