Daily Reading // Proverbs 28
(Find the daily reading on Pastor Jim’s Blog)
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S // SCRIPTURE
Select a verse from today’s reading
Proverbs 28:26 (NKJV) He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.
O // OBSERVATION
Why did this verse get your attention? Make a simple observation from the text
There are two contrasting ideas in this verse. One is directed by the heart. The other is led by wisdom.
The ‘heart’ here is not the organ in your body that pumps blood. It refers here, as it does in our expressions, to emotions or feelings.
Your heart loves to take charge. Emotions will continually try to lead the way. My feelings will often provide an alternate course of action to what wisdom would suggest. When I follow my heart over my head I am choosing a risky and foolish direction.
A // APPLICATION
How can I apply this to my life today?
Wisdom or emotional reaction. Those are the choices we often have to make in life.
There are a number of philosophies that advocate, “Just follow your heart”. A quick check of quotes online shows a number of celebrities quoted using that catch phrase. It sounds so helpful, but it is the opposite of helpful.
The prophet Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)
We tend to trust our heart, our feelings and emotions, too much. We romanticize foolishness by saying, “Just follow your heart”.
Better advice would be, “Just follow the wisdom in God’s word even when your heart tells you something else”. But it’s not quite as catchy.
P // PRAYER
Express yourself in prayer
Father, Give me Your wisdom today so I am not ruled by feelings and emotions. Amen.