Monday, November 22, 2021

Doing the Biblical Thing

There are times in life where we have to weigh which path to take; other times where we are preparing ourselves to be a certain way, so that we make the right split-second decision when it arises and there's no time to think (more, or less, aware that that's what we are doing). If we can be deliberate, we might think "What's the wise thing to do? The prudent? The morally correct one?" (The prudent person eats stew, but Esau sold his birthright for stew -- an unwise choice.) We might also think "How can I love God through what I do? How can I trust him? How can I be loyal to him?"

We can certainly make mistakes, and sometimes we can't know the right thing to do in advance. If we feel that we are risking doing the wrong thing, we may try to be risk-averse (choose the safest option). But we can also say "Even if I'm doing the wrong thing, at least I'm doing the biblical thing". (We can find some precedent in the Bible for some behavior, though that behavior might not measure up to worldly standards of good decision-making. Care should be taken that use of the Bible is well-implemented.) Not "doing the wrong thing" in a sinful way, but in an unwise way. Some people choose wisdom (worldly wisdom), while other people choose to be true to God (spiritual wisdom), through the Bible or whatever other valid source of information about what God wants.

Worldly wisdom may employ reason, and we can know things about God using reason, but according to one form of reason, we seek to do what is socially defensible and in line with human instincts, while according to the other we acknowledge God as he really is, as one who connects to all of life.

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