Posted on 08/21/2019 5:32:25 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes” (Proverbs 21:10).
“The soul of the wicked desireth evil,” they cultivate it. They are not like that when they begin life—most children, even though they are natural sinners and natural liars—like to be told the truth, and to tell the truth. Now, they are not always so good at telling the truth, but they don’t like to be lied to. Children are very hurt when an adult deceives them. They have an immediate sense of what’s right and wrong, and when they see something that is wrong, they immediately recognize it as wrong and point it out as being wrong. This is why children are referred to as “little lawyers.”
The older children get, and the more sophisticated they get, truth becomes a bit more pliable. That word, sophisticated, by the way, is interesting in itself. It comes from the word “sophistry,” which means a “subtle trickery” or “deception.” When you say someone is sophisticated, you are actually suggestion that they are devilish. The bottom line is that this person has learned how to say things without offending people but designed to get their own way. It is a lot like a politician or an insurance salesman.
“The soul of the wicked desireth evil,” he loves it. Paul gives a poignant description of these people in Romans 1, “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Romans 1:32).
Some people become so perverted and so crooked that the only thing they desire in life is just to do bad. They are not happy until they are doing it. Even though man is born a sinner, they aren’t born wicked—that nature is grown and cultivated by the individual. If that nature in a child is let go, and not tempered or controlled, it will eventually end up in wickedness. A child is simply not like that in the beginning.
“. . . his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes,” they can’t stand their “me first, you last” attitude. People that just want what they want and no matter what anyone else thinks about it are rarely on the neighborhood fan list.
Let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread!
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Good stuff!
Greatly appreciate the thought that obviously goes into your posts.
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