Advice That Is Good Is Always Proven Good By God!

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.’ (1 Corinthians 1:27)

There are pundits out there who, if you look hard enough, will provide you with affirmation of any position that may ‘tickle your fancy’.  If a majority of ‘experts’ tell you that it is good to invest a portion of your earnings in a 401K or another type of savings retirement account, there are always a couple that will state don’t do that – spend your money like a sailor on shore leave every payday and enjoy life!, they may say.  Which is great until it’s time to retire, and then reality is Social Security is often not enough to sustain, not only the excessive lifestyle led in following that bad advice but even to live a life of austerity.

Unfortunately, many senior citizens are forced to continue working, either full time or part time, due to such advice and poor planning.  Not all seniors who work are poor planners; some had to spend their savings or had to stop working due to a major medical issue; some get scammed by an untrustworthy advisor, whose advice was good on its face, but instead of investing the savings as promised, the illicit advisor unscrupulously stole the money.  Others work to keep busy and not be idle, so it’s not always proper to assume seniors working at a store are poor planners.  But some took bad advice.

In some cases, we see many who have the title of ‘Doctor’, or have some initials, like Ph.D. or CEO, among others, at the end of their name when advertising on television or on the internet their wares or advice, to give as certain air of knowledge in what they are selling.  Some are respectable and honest, while others are not.  In our world today we see a lot of people who are what I call ‘intellectually ignorant’.  Many people give too much credence and de-facto authority to those who have various levels of collegiate degrees or have Ph.D. in their title, but these ‘experts’ have focused entirely on ‘theory’ and little on ‘practice’.

As an example, I have a Masters Degree in Business Administration, or MBA.  I’ve also was a majority owner and Chief Executive Officer of a small ‘side hustle’ business for several years.  However, I know that I don’t have as much business savvy as someone who makes their living as a proprietor of a long-term, life-long, small business, like a baker or a small specialty shop. 

The MBA was good in part in my position as a program manager within a government contracting firm. However, I did not practice a lot of the theory learned and never used much of it in practice – not even in running a small IT corporation.  I earned the title, and the degree, but not all of the experience.  In other words, if you come to me for advice on running your business, you may want a second opinion.  (The diploma does make a nice wall decoration, however.)

We also see many people equate ‘notoriety’ with ‘importance’; movie stars and other celebrities often seem to believe (and many fall into believing) their beliefs, thoughts and comments are paramount and indisputable, even though there may be no basis to factually back up their stances.  We see the rise and fall of such experts and important people, yet many still jump on their bandwagons and go with them off the cliff.

Being someone who writes a daily Bible blog, one may believe that I’m an expert on all things Biblical, and things I state must be ‘Truth’.  While I believe that, unlike the MBA, I do have a better knowledge of the Bible and God’s Wisdom than business savvy, I will always state that you should always verify my advice or comments by your own personal study of the Bible, and also in prayer and in discussions in fellowship with other Christians.  I also state this for any sermon you hear from anyone, or any Christian book you read from any author; it’s good to trust, but verify whatever you hear or read with the Bible and prayer.    

1 Corinthians 1 is similar to Romans 1 in that Paul tells the believer that there are lot of folks fooling themselves, who seek the ‘easy button’ of life in hedonism and self-gratification, taking advice from the ‘intellectually ignorant’, while ignoring God and His edicts.  It is one thing to profess wisdom, it is another to practice His Wisdom.  ‘I think’ or ‘I feel’ are what the fool takes in as knowledge. 

We all have feelings, and we all think of things to do but we often find out when we put our theories into practice, facts often get in the way and we have to adjust.  In theory, it sounds great and fun to run amok in debauchery, or practice deviate behavior, but we see in practice such acts lead to disease, brokenness, mental and emotional issues.  We see in theory the virtues of Communism/Socialism, but if we take time to look at past results, we see total failure of the nations that attempted socialistic governance and economic policies. 

But God and His edicts are based on facts, and are counter-intuitive to feelings or theories.  We see how be pure in our actions, though prudish to some, make strong and lasting marriages and secure homes.  We know giving a tithe provides rewards far greater than what is given. 

The believer is meek, not weak; the fool follows blindly society’s ‘flavor of the week’, while the believer through the Holy Spirit follows Jesus, and can see through study, prayer and fellowship where things are going and take steps to prepare.  The fool lives by the seat of their pants in the advice they want to hear, we live in guidance from God in the advice He gives that we need to hear!