Wise Counsel

For Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Proverbs 12:5

The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

To whom do you look for counsel? Where do you go for advice? You may unwittingly be using counselors who present to you a deceitful view of life. Your counselors may be TV shows through whom you are learning about relationships. They may be movies from which you are learning to accept violence and easy sex. They may be through advertisements, secular books and magazines. All these venues are giving you counsel. Do you understand that most of such counsel is deceitful, either telling outright lies or distorting truth. Every work of fiction is doing more than telling a story; it is presenting a point of view that you may even unconsciously be taking in.

All the more reason then that you are receiving the "thoughts of the righteous." You need to be attending worship. David says in Psalm 73:16-17 that he had a distorted view of life until he "went into the sanctuary of God." Paul says in Philippians 4:8, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Expose yourself to good counsel, whether it be that you are seeking godly counselors or that you are exposing yourself to godly influences.

Today, whom will you listen to? Who will inform your worldview? Who will set the pace for how you look at your day and respond to the circumstances in your life? Pray to God for wise counselors.