True/False Test
Read Proverbs 21:1-31
Advertisement
1. The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.
2. People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.
3. The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.
4. Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin.
5. Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
6. Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.
7. The violence of the wicked sweeps them away, because they refuse to do what is just.
8. The guilty walk a crooked path; the innocent travel a straight road.
9. It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home. Proverbs 21:1-9
Do you know someone who seems to have an answer for every critic? In conversation you may have come to realize that this person can rationalize their every action. In fact, this person seems to have good reasons for all the wrong choices that he or she has ever made!
Proverbs 20, urged us to be honest with others. This reading, Proverbs 21, urges us to bring the lesson home and be honest with ourselves. Call it a true/false test for motives.
Other topics in this chapter challenge us to be honest with ourselves in the areas of business, pleasure, pride, and savings.
“People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart” (Proverbs 21:2). It’s amazing how readily we can justify whatever we set out to do. Every action seems right, so with a little thought, we can find an excuse for doing almost anything. The truth can often hurt, so we tend to deceive ourselves about why we’re really doing what we’re doing. But God always looks behind our excuses to our motives. We can’t hide the truth from him; so we should be honest about why we’re really doing something.
To cure this tendency to deceive ourselves and rationalize, we must examine our excuses carefully to make sure they aren’t covering up sinful actions, poor choices, or wrong motives. A test to use to cut through an excuse is to ask, Would God be pleased with my real reasons for doing this? If the answer is no, then we shouldn’t do it.
God wants you to be honest, to admit when you’ve done wrong, and to do what is right. He also wants you to do good deeds for the right reasons. If you do, you will find life!
