June 14, 2025 -- Proverbs 14:12 -- Discerning what is right from what seems right

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! 

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its ends is the way of death.
Proverbs 14:12 ESV
 
The same wisdom is expressed earlier in Proverbs, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice” (12:15). What you realize as you read and re-read the Proverbs is that a person’s internal, moral compass is always off. If you are into the sport of orienteering, that is navigating through woods or over great distances using a map and a compass, you know the vital importance of both an accurate map and trustworthy compass. If your compass does not give you true north, then you will not be able to navigate the course.
 
Whatever may seem right to you will always be off course because your heart is misaligned. It is not true to the Word of God. Consider what the word teaches you about yourself and your ability to discern right from wrong on your own.
 
Lack of awareness of the depravity of the heart. Christians neglect this doctrine. So many Christians gauge their spiritual health by their feelings. The very same feelings which are obviously deceptive and wrong. Consider how easily you are tempted to sin and justify your actions in your own mind while the word of God is clearly opposed to what you desire. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
 
Inability to determine what is right. That same word right found in today’s text is used of God. “Good and upright [right] is the LORD; therefore, he instructs sinners in the way” (Psalm 25:8). One’s source of what is spiritually, ethically and morally right is found outside of oneself. A person’s moral compass is off, unless one is completely reoriented toward God. He alone can lead repentant sinners in the right way.
 
Following the LORD is described as “the way”. If you have been reading Scripture, and praying for direction and following what you believe is the right course of action, a key question to ask is this: are you humble enough to admit when you are off-course?  Just like someone engaged in orienteering can misread a map or hold the compass near his belt buckle which can have metals that can interfere with its accuracy, so the Christian can go for a while down a wrong path. When his way has proven to be wrong one of two things can happen. Through Scripture reading, prayer, the counsel of wise Christians he can discern his errors which threw him off course and then return to the way through confession, repentance and humble obedience to God. Or the one who had been playing the Christian when confronted with the fact he is off-course, will double-down and continue in what he thinks is right. It will lead to death. Emotional death. Death in relationship with other Christians. Eventually that person will be deemed a fool—one who by word and actions, denies God.
 
The Bible is filled with warnings precisely because it is so easy to go off-course. God in His great mercy gives the written word and gives His Holy Spirit so that believers can hear and obey. God the Father reconciles wayward Christians through the blood of His Son, Jesus. Believers will not leave the pathways of sin and destruction unless they have been taught right from wrong. Believers will not grow in holiness if they continually return to the mud pits of their own sinful ways. The grace of God is such that He warns His people. He provides Christian friends and counselors who lead others back to the pathway of holiness. The uprightness of God is experienced in the life of Christians who, having experienced the wrong pathway, can with urgent gentleness help others who are going down the wrong way return to Jesus. Doing so, confirms the experienced Christian in the goodness of God. God reminds him of his own past. God’s restoration means he has journeyed a long way in new obedience. God brings the fruit of joy. The fruit of joy fills him because God is using him to help others on the path of life. It is a confirmation of the healing and restoration of God.
 
Blessed Savior, Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Truly You are the radiance of the Father’s glory. You are the Captain of Salvation, leading soldiers who are disoriented by their old allegiances, pressured by the treachery of the world and lured off-course by the wiles of the devil, You lead them away from all that is death. Those captivated by Your goodness, You lead to the Father in heaven, where they are adopted as beloved sons and daughters. Spirit of God, let the glory of this adoption fill our senses so that we hate all that is wrong and sinful and rejoice in the truth. Spirit of God, lead us in humility, contriteness of heart so that as soon as our sinful ways are revealed to us, we confess them, hate them, and turn to Jesus. By the fruit of righteousness, let Your people approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/rpYM6Et_hVY?si=l3n4C_du6l84_F8a He Leadeth Me
 

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