The Plumbline

Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. (Proverbs 19:2) Have you ever jumped into some commitment and then had what some refer to as 'buyer's remorse'? I know I have done that on more than one occasion, regretting my impulsivity. Impulse is good to a certain extent, such as when we sense danger coming our way and dodge to get out of the way. We heard or saw something that made us take notice and we avoided injury as a result of our quick action. Those types of 'quick actions' are warranted. There are other 'quick actions' that actually bring us more trouble or harm than they do good! Haste makes mistakes. Those three words really tell us a great deal. Haste - excessive speed or urgency - isn't always warranted. There are times when we need to stop to consider. I don't buy automobiles impulsively. I take my time, researching my options, looking at the details of what is offered at each price, and then I don't even act on th...

Have you ever blamed someone else for something you really should have taken responsibility for? It is like you know you initiated the matter, but then it escalated out of control, and you don't want to step up to take responsibility. Have you ever done this with God? We forget that he knows the intention of our hearts and sees the foolishness of our actions, but it as though we want to shift the blame to him. It is that person you brought into my life, God. It was because you didn't intervene sooner, God. It was that circumstance, God. Anything or anyone other than us - even God - is to blame. People ruin their OWN lives by their OWN foolishness, but that doesn't give them the privilege to blame God or others for THEIR foolishness. Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord. (Proverbs 19:2-3) Do you know what 'enthusiasm without knowledge' really is? It is doing, TH...

2  Ignorant zeal is worthless; haste makes waste.   3  People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does  God  always get blamed?  (Proverbs 19:2-3) Ever hear someone say, "Why did God let this happen to me?"  It is a natural question to ask whenever something bad happens in life.  We somehow feel that we did not "deserve" this moment of disappointment, season of loss, or depth of difficulty that we are experiencing.  Solomon gives us insight into how these "bad things" sometimes come into our life exclusive of God "doing" anything to orchestrate them.  He tells us that it is our own ignorant zeal - hasty decisions, careless answers, silly compromises - that get us into the "soup" we are in.  Uh oh...now the truth is revealed!   People ruin their own lives and God gets the blame for our own silliness - that is what he puts forth to us in this passage.  So, rather than asking why God allowed someth...