The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 10:2,
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
There really are two ways to go in life. The way of the fool and the way of the wise. Solomon's father, David, tells us in Psalm 14:1, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" He goes on to say that they are corrupt and do no good. It is the passage that Paul quotes in Romans 3:10-12. John also speaks of fools. He says they stumble around in darkness and can't even see what it is they stumble over. They don't know where they are going because the darkness has blinded them. 1 John 2:9-11.
In another place John becomes even more pointed. In 1 John 3:7-10 we read, "Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."
Here John points to the two ways a man's heart might be inclined, "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left." The truth of the matter is that we all start off in life inclined to the left, the fool. We are all born in sin and stumble around in a spiritual darkness and so stumble over things we cannot see from the vantage point of the spiritual realm. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1-5, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."
How wonderful is that?! As our hearts were inclined toward sin, as we stumbled around in a spiritual blindness and darkness, God sent his Son for us, to take our punishment on himself. Having done that, for those of us who have embraced him in faith, he sent his Spirit to live within us, to enlighten us, to incline our hearts "to the right."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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