The Sin of Complacency

  A preview of June's email-only article.


Nikola Jovanovic


Every month I publish an exclusive articles for my email subscribers. (If you'd like to join the list, fill out the form below.)

In this month's subscriber email we're examining the foolishness of complacency.

Here's how the article starts:

Have you ever noticed that people get the most spiritual when faced with some kind of tragedy? 

When once they couldn't be bothered to say a prayer, suddenly they find themselves on their knees every day.

While I do spend quiet time with God every day, I'm not immune to this phenomenon either. I find that my prayers are more pointed--more focused--when I'm dealing with some type of stressor or pressing issue in my life.

Part of this is natural, no doubt. When times get rough, the best thing we can do is turn to our maker for guidance and deliverance.

Nevertheless there is danger in operating one's life in this manner. The best time to prepare for a famine is when food is plentiful, not when the drought has already come.

Solomon touched on this phenomenon in Proverbs 1.

 

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Another Thing All Wise People Do

The second of a two-part article. Read part one here: Two Things All Wise People Do.


Joseph Chan


We learned last month that one defining characteristic of the wise is that they continually seek out more wisdom. They do so because it is the wise thing to do. While this seems kind of like a catch-22how do the unwise ever become wise?it makes sense if you think about it. As one increases in knowledge, he or she recognizes its value and therefore pursues even more of it.

The second aspect held in common among the wise is that they acknowledge the source of wisdom. And such an acknowledgement yields the humble admission that knowledge doesn't originate within themselves.

In the seventh verse of Proverbs, Solomon said as much with his thesis statement for both the book of Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes. He wrote, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."

In essence he's claiming true wisdom comes from God, just as his did.

This claim here that God is our source, our starting point, for wisdom is what sets Proverbs apart from other wisdom literature of the ancient near east. While scholars have uncovered writings very similar to some of the proverbs in the Bible, Solomon's thesis here lends a uniqueness not found anywhere else.

Now, I know you might object to this claim that all wise people fear the God of the Bible and accept him as the origin for knowledge. After all, aren't people like Gandhi and Confucius famous for the wisdom they possessed? And yet neither one ascribed to belief in the Judeo-Christian God.