BBD 09.11.13 Can't Win For Losing (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
There are 14,000 Subscribers to the Email Devotional
09.11.13
Can’t Win For Losing
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this
age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their
own craftiness”; and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they
are futile.” - 1 Corinthians 3:18-20.
Kevin Reeves can’t seem to win for losing. He had a
friend, Christine Ryder who was depressed and wanted to die. So she agreed to
pay her friend Kevin £20,000 to find a hitman to kill her. The money was to
cover Kevin’s fee plus that of the killer. Kevin did make a wise choice when he
failed to actually hire a hitman to kill Christine. However, Kevin is now
serving a 15-month sentence for deception. The judge in the case told Kevin at
the sentencing, “While it is clear you
had no intention of arranging for someone to kill Mrs. Ryder and didn’t propose
to do it yourself you deceived her into believing it would happen.”
The wisdom of the world will always get you into trouble.
Kevin apparently has the attitude that much of the non-Christian world has in
thinking that if you can get away with something then it is okay. If you can,
also, make money while getting away with something that would be even better at
least in the eyes of some worldly people.
The world makes up its rules as it goes and those rules
may change at the whim of those to whom the change would be beneficial.
Trusting in the wisdom of the world is like building your house on sand. It may
be fine for a while, but you never know when the wind will blow too hard or the
water rise too high and damage the house.
The apostle Paul was actually giving a warning to the
Corinthian church about trusting in their own worldly traditions or making up
their own extra-Biblical rules. It is a warning still needed by the church
today. We are often tempted to incorporate into our church life ideas from the
business world. However, the business world operates on a black and white basis
- what you see is what you get. If someone has the best resume and sounds good
in an interview, you hire the person. If you have the money for a project, and
it looks like it will make money, then you do it. The church is to operate on
faith. Often the person God would want a church to call as their pastor is not
the one with the best credentials and may not do the best in an interview or
may not even be the best preacher. The determining factor must be prayer and
faith. Is this the will of God? Whether the church does a project or not should
not be based on whether the church has the money or does not have the money.
Again, it should be based on prayer and faith. Is God in it or not. Is it God’s
will? If God is in it, then it will succeed. If not the project will fail.
If it seems like you can’t win for losing perhaps you
need to examine whether you are seeking to live life by the changing rules of
the world or by the unchangeable wisdom of God. “If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool
that he may become wise.” The world
of today would call most of the great men and women of the Bible fools. The
world laughed at Noah. The people of Jericho must have laughed at those crazy
Israelites as they marched around Jericho. Potiphar’s wife probably laughed at
Joseph for rejecting her advances as he was hauled off to prison. The people of
the court must have thought that Esther was crazy for risking her life - “For such a time as this.”
The people of the world may laugh at you and call you a
fool, but no one is foolish who is obedient to the will and wisdom of the
Lord.
Copyright © 2006-2013. Ed Wrather.
The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8,
1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed
Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of these
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