The Bible often points us to aged men and women as we look for wisdom, and for good reason. With age comes life experience. This experience can often help young men and women see traps and pitfalls that are hard for the naive to see. In fact, Proverbs is full of the wisdom of seeking advice from others rather than relying on our own wisdom.
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Proverbs 12:15 ESV).
And the more counselors we have, the more sound the advice may be. This gives us a chance to hear a broad perspective of advice as we weigh them out before we take action.
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14 ESV).
But specifically, we see the Bible point to older people as sources of wisdom and counsel.
“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5 ESV).
And
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12 ESV).
In all of this, there is respect that we should show toward those who are aged:
“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” (1 Timothy 5:1-2 ESV).
But there is a difference between showing this respect for and seeking counsel from those who have age on us and taking their words as the final authority for our lives. I wonder if sometimes we put too much authority into the words of people older than us.
While this may have minimal effect on our lives when it comes to making a life decision, it can be devastating if we take the advice of an older person when it comes to how we should serve the Lord. Just because someone has lived much longer than us doesn’t make them the final word on how we should serve God.
While I see the wisdom in approaching our elders on spiritual matters, it is vital we continue to study ourselves and live the way we understand that God wants us to live. On the Day of Judgment, it will not be our elders we have to answer to about life choices and the discipleship we choose to live.
It will not be our parents to whom we can appeal when we stand before Jesus as our Judge. We cannot abdicate our responsibility to live for God the way He wants us to live by submitting to the aged people in our lives, our leaders, our families, our church, or our creeds. Advice is only as good as the truth that backs it up.
In the book of Job, we are introduced to five main characters. Job, his three friends, and a fourth, younger man. Job was a wise, older man whom people sought out before the plagues brought disaster upon him. His three friends that we are introduced to early on seem to be aged men of wisdom as well.
Then we are introduced to a young man named Elihu. Out of respect for his elders, Elihu waits until his elders finish their counsel before he speaks up. But as he listens to Job and the three other elders, his anger starts to burn against them all.
“Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.
He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.” (Job 32:2-3 ESV).
When he opens his mouth, Elihu sets this perspective of wisdom and those older than him in perspective:
“And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.
I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’
But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.” (Job 32:6-9 ESV).
As Elihu continues to give wisdom from a younger person’s perspective, he reminds these elders that wisdom comes from an absolute source and is not sourced simply from someone who may be older.
“Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf. I will get my knowledge from afar and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.” (Job 36:2-3 ESV).
When this young man speaks to Job, a man he desperately wants to vindicate because of his great respect for him, Elihu goes to the source of wisdom:
“Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
Do you know how God lays his command upon them and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,
you whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind?
Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?” (Job 37:14-18 ESV).
In the end, God takes Job to the woodshed and condemns the wisdom of Job’s older friends. It is only the young, respectful Elihu that God has no words of chastisement for. What can we learn from this?
First, there is wisdom in seeking counsel from others, but we must understand that age is no guarantee that advice will be sound.
Second, aged men cannot be a substitution for the will of God. Our elders can lead us astray, though they may do it with the best of intentions.
Third, we must continue to study God’s Word ourselves. We will not be judged on the words of elders, parents, preachers, or church creeds, and we must not appeal to them as our final authority.
Fourth, it is ok to reject the counsel of our elders if we do not see their advice lining up with the Word of God. We must be responsible for our own souls and discipleship to Jesus.
Elihu was the only one God did not condemn in the book of Job. He escaped condemnation because he appealed to God and did not capitulate to the older men he had tremendous respect for. He did not stay silent. He took the lonely path of bucking against society to take his stand with God.
So must we.
Well, my week of Social Media/TV/Phone Games fast is over. This is something I suggest that everyone consider participating in periodically. I was surprised at all the time I spent on things that were not really important.
During my fast, I made this note during one of my readings that I want to share with you:
God will wipe away every tear. Perhaps this is even greater than we have thought. When our sins are laid bare on judgment, and we are pained over our sins, on that day, God will take away godly sorrow forever, and we will never again have to contend with godly sorrow over our sins. Our sins will forever be forgotten by us and by God, never to be thought of again.
Let us always put our trust in the one, unique, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing God who sees all.
“All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?” (Isaiah 40:17-18 ESV).
There is only one eternal God, one I AM. One Yahweh. There is none before the One who always existed. There will be none like Him after Him because He will have no “after.” He has, is, and always will exist.
Because of this, there is no salvation found anywhere but in Him. Only the I AM can offer salvation, and salvation can only be offered in Him.
He will not be defeated.
He will not fade away.
He will not die.
“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.” (Isaiah 43:10-11 ESV).
Sometimes, when we watch society deteriorate, it tempts us to take our eyes off the Lord.
We worry about being canceled.
We worry about being sued.
We worry about being imprisoned.
We worry about being threatened with violence.
When society turns to utter disregard for God, let us not forget who God is.
Who are we to take our eyes off God, who is mightier, more trustworthy, and has us in His hand?
Let us not be full of dread when men become more evil; rather, let us rejoice in the steadfast love and protection of the Almighty!
“I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,” (Isaiah 51:12 ESV).
I am in the book of Isaiah in my daily Bible reading. Wow, things never change. What God hated thousands of years ago, He hates today.
This is what Isaiah wrote in his day. Is it really much different in our day?
“For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.
No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.” (Isaiah 59:3-4 ESV).
And a few verses later, Isaiah writes,
“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.
Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.” (Isaiah 59:14-15 ESV).
Oh, that we will always remember that God is not mocked, nor is evil ever hidden from His sight. We must always stand in His grace lest we become lulled into the soft seduction of the evil one and be led to our own destruction with the wicked people of our day.
I am in Jeremiah in my daily Bible reading. Jeremiah was the reluctant prophet who, in his youth, was chosen by God to preach judgment against the people of Judah.
We know that God sent the terrible and mighty people of Babylon against Judah, a people whom He personally raised up for this purpose.
Yet, God’s love for His people was so great that, even as He spoke judgment against Judah, He was still straining to find a way to extend His grace and soften His hand.
“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.” (Jeremiah 5:1 ESV).
But God found no repentance. He found no one who sought His grace, so judgment fell upon the people in full measure.
Today, the Lord is seeking people who will turn away from evil, people who will say “no” to the perversions in our society, and people who do justice and seek truth.
The Lord is earnestly seeking people to pour out His grace upon today, just like He sought people in the days of Jeremiah to pour His grace upon. As judgment was around the corner for the people of Judah, and they didn’t know it, so is judgment coming for us as a thief in the night.
Let us all seek God, turn from our evil ways, and humble ourselves in the presence of our Creator so we may find grace in the day of judgment when it comes.
Well, my social media fast is over. One thing I learned is that we have too many distractions in life.
When I restricted the time I spent online, watching television, and playing game games on my phone, I was forced to find something to do to replace those activities. I could have chosen to replace them with low-quality activities, but I was purposeful in choosing things important to me.
I prayed a lot and spent time in His Word. I spent more time catching up on things I’ve been putting off.
Social media doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I am learning, however, that I need to be judicious about how much time I spend on these activities at the expense of more important things in life.
I’ll never get squandered hours back, so it’s vital I do a better job at redeeming the time, for the days are, indeed, evil.
Here is an interesting post. As many of you know, I have been playing with Bard, Google’s AI tool that creates posts and answers your questions. Artificial Intelligence is really coming along.
I decided to try an experiment. Tomorrow’s Tuesdays With Tony post is entitled, “Be Thankful Every Day For The Lord’s Providence.” It deals with not taking God’s daily blessings for granted. I will post it tomorrow morning.
But I wondered what Bard would write on this topic if I asked it to write a post. I was somewhat impressed. Here was my prompt for Bard:
𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺.
What follows is from the mind of artificial intelligence. I’d be interested in what you think. Without further ado, here is Bard’s post:
{Begin Post}
God has blessed us with so many things, both big and small. We often take these blessings for granted, but it is important to remember that they are not ours by right. They are gifts from God, and we should be grateful for them.
One of the most important things we can do is to 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝. We can do this through prayer, worship, and simply taking the time to think about all the ways He has blessed us. When we express our gratitude, it helps us to remember how much we have to be thankful for, and it also helps us to build a stronger relationship with God.
Another important way to 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 is to 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐦. When we use our blessings to help others, it shows that we are grateful for what we have, and it also brings glory to God. There are many ways to use our blessings to glorify God, such as volunteering our time, donating to charity, or simply being kind to others.
Finally, it is important to 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬. Even when we are going through tough times, God is there for us. He loves us unconditionally, and He wants to help us through whatever we are facing. When we remember that God is always with us, it gives us strength and hope.
So, how can we 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝? Here are a few tips:
* 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝.
* 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐦.
* 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
When we follow these tips, we can live a life that is full of gratitude and joy. We can also show God that we appreciate all the blessings He has given us.
{End Post}
Note: Even the 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 was created by Bard.
https://bard.google.com/