Lean not unto thine own understanding—Proverbs 3:5
Faith is hindered by reliance upon human wisdom, whether our own or the wisdom of others. The devil's first bait to Eve was an offer of wisdom, and for this she sold her faith.
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Ye shall be as gods, he said, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5); and from that hour she began to know and she ceased to trust.
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It was the spies who postponed the Land of Promise to Israel. It was their "evil report" after searching out the land that led to the awful outbreak of unbelief and effectively shut the doors of Canaan to a whole generation.
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It is very significant that the names of those spies are nearly all suggestive of human wisdom, greatness and fame. So in the days of Christ, it was the bondage of the Jews to the traditions of their fathers and the opinions of men that kept them back from receiving Him.
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How can ye believe, He asked, which receive honour one of another; and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (John 5:44). Let us trust Him with all our hearts and not lean upon our own understanding.
Continue ye in my love—John 15:9
There are many different atmospheres in which one may live.
- Some people live in an atmosphere of thought. Their faces are thoughtful, their minds intellectual. They live in their ideas, their concepts of truth, their tastes and aesthetic nature.
- Other people live in their animal nature, in the lusts of the flesh and eye, the coarse, low atmosphere of a sensuous life, or worse. Still others live in a world of duty. The predominating feature of their lives is conscience, and it carries with it a certain shadowy fear that takes away the simple freedom and gladness of life.
- Admittedly, in the latter there is a rectitude, an uprightness, a strictness of purpose and of conduct which cannot be ignored or questioned.
- But Christ bids us live in an atmosphere of love. As my Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. In the original it is, live in my love. Love is the atmosphere in which He would have us constantly live-that is, believing that He ever loves us and claiming His divine approval and tender regard. This is the life of love.
