August 27, 2024 -- Proverbs 27:3 -- Preparing for the provocation of fools

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A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
    but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.
Proverbs 27:3 ESV

Have you ever seen people filling sandbags and piling them high against a coming flood? I’ve seen it on TV as people are preparing for the accompanying high tides of a hurricane or others preparing for rivers that are at flood stage. The sand is heavy. The bags are heavy. The work of stacking them is heavy. Yet people know this work is necessary in order to protect their house.

To understand this proverb you need to understand the Bible’s description of a fool. The fool says in his heart there is no god (Psalm 14:1). The fool and his destructive ways of life are so intertwined you can’t separate the fool from his self-destructiveness (Proverbs 27:22). The fool will oppose God even rejecting the offered mercy of God (Proverbs 26:24-25).

Why does this matter? It explains the hardships and challenges a Christian will face as he follows Jesus in this life. A Christian will walk in the wisdom of the Word and be guided by the Holy Spirit. A Christian will respond to the love the Father has shown by seeking to be gracious to the people all around. The fool will push back. The fool who hates anything to do with God and unable to touch God Himself will then hate the one who follows Jesus.

The Bible is warning you, dear fellow believer, to be prepared for the heavy cost you must bear of following Jesus. You will have to fight your own flesh and laziness. You will have to face people who subtly undercut you and seem to be friendly, all the while they are calculating how to hurt you. You will face people in authority who enact laws that are opposed to all that the Bible teaches and such provocation requires that you are prepared. Here are some examples that might help you prepare for the work of living in a world that is filled with fools.

  • You have done a project at work and a coworker steals the credit for it. Trust God to vindicate you (Psalm 43:1).

  • A classmate, or coworker, discovers you are a Christian and begins to tease you mercilessly. This is heavy provocation indeed. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Romans 12:14). Why? So that they may be won to Jesus Christ and you will have turned an enemy into a fellow soldier of the cross of Jesus.

  • You know there will be consequences for speaking against the agenda of those who wickedly promote a non-biblical sexual agenda that mutilates children, do not be afraid to confess Jesus. Those who are ashamed of Jesus in this life the Son of Man will be ashamed of when He comes in His glory (Luke 9:26).

  • Trust that God has placed you in such a difficult circumstance so that His glory and His love will either win the non-Christian to Christ, or confirm his condemnation (John 16:8).

Dear family of God, you have been drenched in the forgiving love of God, reconciled to the Father through the work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, in the strength of the Spirit, protect the household of God and live boldly for Jesus. Be prepared to protect the honor and glory of the Church of which belongs to Jesus, that means you will be prepared for every provocation confident the Triune God sees and has His holy purposes for you.

O LORD God, when You give Your servants to endeavour any great matter, grant us also to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the same until it be thoroughly finished, which yields the true glory; through Him that for the finishing of Your work laid down His life, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prayer of Sir Francis Drake on entering the Cadiz Harbour, April 19, 1587

https://youtu.be/z-yJ3xMVUDI?si=1H0Yj6ihGg1MxUJM “Whate’er My God Ordains Is Right”

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