The title of this blog post is from Proverbs 16:18.
Which when push comes to shove, is my favourite verse in all of scripture. There is something about it, that reminds me of the great controversy between Christ and Satan and how pride always ends up going before something bad happens. Case in point, Satan before his fall...
But this isn't relegated to heavenly battles, it hits home for me personally as well. Pride has gotten me into troubl more times than I can count, and what's crazy is that it's shown it's nasty face a few times during my walk with Christ.
How might you ask?
Jongo at times in his life, thinks he knows it all. I should 'know' better, after all I learned a long time ago that if I was the smartest guy in the room, I needed to get into a another room quick lol But honestly, the more I learned about the bible and God, the more 'confident' I became in the truth.
Sadly, that truth that I hold so dear, doesn't always resonate with others. So what happens is I tend to think....I'm right, and everyone else is wrong.
There's a problem with that, especially when it comes to ones beliefs and thankfully, I found some council in the bible about why this can be deadly....
Let's check out the book of Matthew, specifically chapter 13 and we'll read verses 24 to 20...
The famous parable of the wheat and the tares. Without getting into too much theology, this parable shows us that God's people are the wheat and the lost are the tares or 'weeds'. The point that really hit home for me wasn't the lesson about how Satan is the creator of all misery and sin in the world, it was.....Sometimes we can't see the difference!
So full of pride, I see someone in apostasy....I rebuke them, point the finger and tell them to repent! Which is biblical BUT and here's the big but....Just because someone errs doesn't mean they are lost. I can't parade my 'knowledge' of scripture over another and write them off....That's not my job!
In fact, being honest, I really don't know anything when it comes to God's plan lol. His plan of redemption is His plan, not mine! So only He will know, who is a wheat and who is a tare.
And there's a bit of time prophecy in these verses to cement this thought as well....
The 'harvest' is the end time and the second coming of Christ. And as that isn't happening right now, there is plenty of time for people to become wheat....And sadly plenty of time for people to become tares. So I cannot parade myself around, claiming holier than thou when....It's God's time, not mine!
Just reviewing this parable has really helped my approach to being a closer disciple of Christ's. I cannot judge, I must not judge. That is what God is going to do, so for me it's simple....
Spread the gospel, continue to humbly go to Christ' feet, and never think I know it all.