If I say you are Stupid (bobo), you would call me rude...BUT what if God's Word does?

Probing Proverbs 12:1-3 To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction. The Lord approves of those who are good, but he condemns those who plan wickedness. Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have deep roots.

The wisdom from Proverbs is so enlightening, partly because it is so simple. That is one of the authenticators of Truth, it is not complicated, it is simple! That does not mean “easy”, much of Truth is difficult because we are sinners, however, it is not some hidden secret, like a treasure map! Most Truth does not have to be decoded; God has made it simple and understandable.  

This Proverb is not confusing at all, but we need to consider its wisdom, because our flesh will try to make it difficult to follow.

First Truth: If you desire to learn, you must bury that ego, humble that heart and be willing to be disciplined. No one likes to be disciplined, I know I don’t, but this is a clear sign of the eagerness of the heart. When you are so proud that you are always right, you shut your heart and mind down from learning spiritual truth. When you think you already know, then there is no room to learn. A soft heart before God allows Him the easiest access to you and He will patiently and lovingly bring you to the Truth. Sometimes, when we are in the flesh, our Father may have to be more harsh to get our attention, but if we have a life style of humility, the “spanking” will only sting for a moment, the life lesson we learn will last forever!

Second, the Scriptures mixed no words when confronting those that hate being corrected! “Stupid” is a harsh word, in the Hebrew it is just as bad:

בָּעַר (bāʿar)  A brutish person. Occurs five times in Psalms and Proverbs. Such a person is one who stubbornly refuses to accept God’s grace^[1]

It is rendered “senseless” in Ps 73:22:

Ps 73:22  Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

When we think about it, this really makes sense! How do most beasts act…instinctively! Well, that describes us because we are sinners by nature and when we refuse to yield to God’s teaching we react instinctively, controlled by our flesh, we will not listen to the Lord. If you are trying to help someone (correct) so they will not hurt themselves, yet they refuse to receive your help, a good word to describe that is “stupid.”

Third, God affirms those that live right and condemns those who desire evil.

Fourth, those that live away from God are unstable, they have no solid foundation. When we live close to God our foundation is solid!

Matthew 7:24–27  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Living in the Philippines I have experienced many Typhoons. Their destructive power is shocking. One year Dee and I gave seminars in northern Luzon. To get there we drove through an area called Tarlac. That weekend a large Typhoon came in. It was headed north, directly toward us, but in the middle of the night-diverted south. We had a great weekend, with great weather. On the following Monday we headed back toward Manila. We were in shock as we arrived at Tarlac, it appeared as though a bomb had gone off. Huge trees were picked up roots and all and thrown on houses! Our hearts sank as we traveled through and witnessed the destruction. We prayed for the many that lost so much. When I spoke to a person that had a greater understanding about trees and storms, he explained that even though the trees had roots, they were not deep roots and the ground was saturated before the Typhoon hit. Only the trees with deep roots survived that storm.

When we live close to God, even tremendous trials cannot shake us from our foundation, because it is in Him! No matter how awesome or secure someone may look, if they are living far from God, the storms of life will pick them up, shallow roots and all, and destroy what they thought they had!

Meditation: Is your life built on the rock foundation of a never changing God, or on the sand of shifting emotions and circumstance? Have you checked your foundation? If not, Why? How do you respond to the storms of life? How do those around you see how you respond? Are you brave enough to ask them? 

---

^[1] Oswalt, J. N. (1999). 264 בָּעַר. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 121). Chicago: Moody Press.