Thought for the Day

Verse 4 - God hates all sin, but we saw in Proverbs 6:16-19 that there are seven sins which God particularly hates, and lying is one of them. Giving an ear to a known liar is just as bad as telling a lie. At times, we are all exposed to lies without knowing it, but most people's attitudes reveal if their words should be trusted or not. Haughty, critical, and demeaning people cannot be trusted to speak without bias. Those with the habit of spreading gossip and trying to get people to side with them against others must also be avoided. Such people are not content to do mischief themselves, but they try to enlist others to join them. We certainly must not encourage such people by listening to them.

Verse 5 - God hates pride, which leads us to despise anyone who (in comparison to ourselves) is "poor" in talent, intelligence, looks, spirituality, or skills - in addition to those who are economically poor. He is interested in every soul. He loves the poor and desires that we love them, too. We are all poor before Him! Expressing His love to others in practical ways opens a door through which we might lead them to salvation.

As Christians, we have been commissioned not only to preach the gospel to the poor, but teach them laws that govern the affairs of life. People are destroyed through lack of knowledge. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children" (Hosea 4:6). Only the knowledge and application of God's Word can overcome our problems. The poor need this knowledge. The Bible is not only filled with the spiritual principles of life, but also wisdom in the area of physical laws. Some of the subjects that are covered in the Bible are: nutrition, sanitation, land conservation, animal husbandry, ecology, social etiquette, government administration, and family structure. This is just a partial list, since the Bible has much to say on many subjects. When we seek God's answers to any problem, we can find something that the Bible has to say about it.

We should never be glad when calamity occurs, not even the destruction of the wicked. We can be glad when justice is done, but if we have God's heart, we will be saddened that the wicked did not repent. "Say unto them, As I live, saith the LORD GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11).