Daily Devotional For Wednesday, February 28, 2024

We live in a very negative, condemning, and judgmental culture and world. For over a week, we have looked at negative speech and the wrong use of the tongue. Turn on the news or talk radio, you are not going to be encouraged or up-lifted. It is all deplorable. Here is a challenge: think of someone you know whose speech is typically positive, godly, encouraging and up-lifting. What stands out about them. How about this week you either call them or text them or send them an email or note thanking them for this great characteristic about them.

The Bible says this in Proverbs 10:2, “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse” (ESV). What is some unwise advice you followed in the past? Look at Proverbs 25:10, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (ESV). Picture that. What do you see? Why this analogy and why does it work?

One of the main reasons we listen to bad advice is that we have typically exhausted all other “possibilities” (except God’s Word) and out of desperation, we take this route. Do not misunderstand me. I am not against all worldly wisdom. There is some out there that is good, but first, you have to measure it or compare to the truth of God’s Word. Look at these Proverbs:

• Proverbs 25:19, “Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips” (ESV).
• Proverbs 25:26, “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked” (ESV).
• Proverbs 25:28, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls” (ESV).

Proverbs 25:19, Proverbs 25:26 and Proverbs 25:28 all stress the problems that come when listening to the advice or wisdom of unwise and ungodly people. When it comes to the world’s advice and wisdom, we all should heed what Chuck Swindoll writes on this: 

“We must use great discernment when seeking counsel and be extremely cautious when advice comes from someone who rejects a biblical worldview. You may be surprised to discover that age and life experience don’t necessarily translate into wisdom. Job noted, “The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice” (Job 32:9)” (Charles R. Swindoll, Living the Proverbs: Insights for the Daily Grind (p. 97, Kindle Edition).

That is why we must heed Proverbs 11:14, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of godly counselors there is safety” (PAR). This reminded me of a quote by President Woodrow Wilson, he said this: “I use not only all the brains I have, but all I can borrow” (Woodrow Wilson, Leadership, Vol. 2, no. 1).

The Bible is clear — when someone godly offers godly advice and we fail to take it or heed it, we are a fool because we are prideful. We all need Christian discernment. The problem I see today is that many Christians do not get biblical discernment or they ignore it when it is given. They prefer talk TV such as The View or Oprah or Dr. Oz or some other “expert.” Remember this quote: “Not everything that glitters is gold?” Even experts can give the wrong advice. Read the following from Trail Magazine:

Trail magazine is one of the most widely distributed climbing magazines.

The February 2004 issue provided directions for climbers descending Britain's highest peak, Ben Nevis. Returning from the 4,409 foot summit in bad weather requires explicit instruction. The article gave step by step advice on navigating the trial down. The directions were wrong.

Roger Wild, the mountain safety adviser for the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, discovered the mistake and immediately contacted the magazine. He wrote:

The potential consequences of following the advice provided by Trail are clear. Anyone following a bearing of 281 degrees from anywhere close to the summit cairn or shelter will be taken directly over the north face. I find it incredible that Trail has published advice which is so obviously and dangerously wrong.

Trail magazine admitted that a crucial step in the instructions was inadvertently omitted. Those following the article would pay a high price for the missing information. In poor visibility, climbers depending upon the directions would walk off the edge into Gardyloo Gully. The 1,000 foot drop is one of the longest in Britain.

Guy Procter, the editor of Trail, said that the problem had been caused by a production error. "There is a simple explanation. A sentence was missed from the article," he said. A correction would be placed in the March issue…. Mr. Procter said Trail advised all climbers to use an Ordinance Survey map and compass. "Anyone looking at a map could see what's gone wrong, and it will hopefully be picked up by readers” (Source: "The Quickest Way to Gardyloo Gully," news.telegraph.co.uk (1-22-04).

An expert magazine on mountain climbing gave the wrong advice which could cost mountain climbers their lives. Here is very tragic example when “experts” overruled the expert:

“On January 28, 1986, NASA was planning to launch the space shuttle Challenger from Kennedy Space Center—a mission that included a schoolteacher named Christa McAuliffe. The launch had already been delayed a few times. On the night before the new launch date, NASA held a long conference call with engineers from Morton-Thiokol, the contractor that built the Challenger's solid-rocket motors. Allan McDonald was one of the Thiokol engineers.

On the day of the launch it was unusually cold in Florida, which concerned McDonald because he feared that his company's o-ring seals in the Challenger's big joints wouldn't operate properly at that temperature. Since the boosters had never been tested below 53 degrees McDonald recommended the launch be postponed again.

But NASA officials overruled McDonald and requested that the "responsible Morton-Thiokol official" sign off on the decision to launch. McDonald refused to sign the request, but his boss did. The next morning McDonald—and millions of people around the globe—watched as a mere 73 seconds into the flight, the shuttle burst into flames.

After the accident, a review showed the cause of the explosion to be what McDonald had feared: the o-rings failed to hold their seal in the cold temperature. In other words, some people in the know had foreseen the exact cause of failure. So why, even with that warning, did NASA push on? Allen McDonald claims that NASA fell prey to the oldest and most basic sin—pride. McDonald said:

NASA [had become] too successful. They had gotten by for a quarter of a century and had never lost a single person going into space … And they had rescued the Apollo 13 halfway to the moon when part of the vehicle blew up. Seemed like it was an impossible task, but they did it. So how could this cold o-ring cause a problem when they had done so much over the past years to be successful? [All of this success] gives you a little bit of arrogance you shouldn't have … But they hadn't stumbled yet and they just pressed on” (see the following link for the source: https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2015/may/2052515.html.

This means that Christa McAuliffe and the other astronauts did not have to die that day. It was NASA’s pride that killed all of them in the worse tragedy in our space program. Again, I remind all of us: whatever advice you are given, measure to the wisdom and truth in God’s Word. You will never go wrong going to the infallible, inerrant, inspired and unchanging truth of God’s Word. 

Questions to Consider

• Did you contact that person above who has been a godly counselor to you to say, “Thank you” and let them know how their godly wisdom has helped you?
• When was a time someone gave you bad advice and you followed it? What happened and how did you deal with the consequences of it?
• Just because someone is an “expert,” does not mean they are right. Trail Magazine and NASA are two good examples that prove that. It isn’t about the amount of counselors, as it is about the attributes of Christ these counselor have or do not have. Who this week, could you give godly advice to that will help them?
• When it comes to receiving advice, discernment is crucial. How do you think you get or find discernment? What is discernment? It is in its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong based on the truth of God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Now you know. How can you use these two sources of discernment this week to help someone else?

Scripture to Meditate On: Proverbs 1:7, “The fear (respect) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (ESV).

Prayer to Pray: “Dear Jesus, oh I need discernment. There are so many voices in this culture of mine that at times I am overloaded and bombarded with wrong advice. I want to seek Your kingdom, Your will for my life so that I bring You glory and help others. You tell me in John 15:5, “I (Jesus) am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (ESV). Apart from You Jesus, I can do nothing. Nothing! Jesus, I need You. I need You. Every hour I need You. Forgive me when I live as if I do not. I confess my sin of self-reliance and commit to an attitude of dependence on You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Pastor Kelly