PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man” (Proverbs 8:2-4).

Our Lord doesn't need to cry out to animals because he doesn't deal with animals. Animals respond by instinct, by nature. That's true, so maybe in that respect you could say well God speaks to them too. Well, maybe, but he doesn't have to convince animals of anything. Animals don't have the wherewithal to resist God that way. It is only to man that He gave a free will and thoughts of their own and the ability to imagine an ability to choose, as well as a will to sin. It is to them that he calls to and ask them to make the right choices.

One other thing we see from verse 4 is that this is a universal call to “whomsoever will come.” In the heresy called Calvinism, this call is sent only to an elect few, and the rest of mankind is consigned to the fires of hell with no opportunity to come to Christ for redemption. “They can’t,” the Calvinists claim. “They have no choice in the matter!”

Well, hell is eternal punishment. Will God punish man for being something that he has no choice but to be? That is not tenable with the God of the Bible “Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Again, verse 4 does not say, “Unto you, O chosen few men, I call; and my voice is to a limited number of the sons of man.”

In fact, after writing the last couple of sentences, I am going to take a shower to try to get the stench from me.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so 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! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

If anyone would like to be added to the ping list, please let me know either by post or by p.m.

For more books on all topics of the Bible, visit my web site at:

BAPTIST BIBLE BELIEVERS WEBSITE

BEGGARS AT A CAMP MEETING - KING JAMES BIBLE PREACHIN'

UNLOVED

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.