For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
We are reminded that we must use caution when arguing with fools. On the one hand, if one argues with a fool it is easy to get sucked into their foolishness. On the other hand, if you do not counter their foolishness, they, and others, may think that their arguments are actually wise.
It is good to give thanks to God and to praise Him. The psalm goes on from there and expounds on this point, but more does not really need to be said. It is indeed a good thing to give thanks to God.
Paul tells Timothy to avoid meaningless conversation because it leads one to become more and more ungodly. Comparing how the NLT translates(“worthless, foolish talk”) that to how the NIV translates(“godless chatter”) it gives us a good idea what Paul means when he writes this. This comes as part of his command that we avoid arguing over words, which is a command I struggle with understanding how it applies. I understand that it is important to not get caught up in arguing over the specific words used when those we are talking with agree about the basic teaching. On the other hand, I have seen false teaching disseminated by gradually changing the words used from ones that mean one thing to words which mean something similar but not quite the same. It is important that we choose our words with care, so that they express the meaning we intend, but we should avoid arguing with those who, unintentionally, use the wrong word to express the correct idea.
The example which comes to mind was a Sunday School lesson a few years ago where the material contained a sentence which said something along the lines of, “We need to recognize that we continuously sin.” Many in the class with me accepted that sentence because they interpreted it as meaning, “We need to recognize that we continually sin.” It was clear to me from the rest of the lesson and from other things the author had written that they meant what they had written, but had written it that way for people to accept it the way the others in the class read it. The strategy being used was to get people to accept the idea that they were always sinning (as in, they were sinning every moment of every day) so that they could then be told, “Since you are always sinning, you are a hypocrite to point out that certain behaviors are sinful.” And yet, in that class I accomplished nothing by attempting to explain to the others there that “continuously” and “continually” had different meanings.
One of the leaders remaining in Judea after the fall of Jerusalem assassinated the governor appointed by the Babylonians (if you have been reading along you know this). The remaining people were afraid of how the Babylonians would react. They went to Jeremiah and asked him to pray to God to find out what they should do. They swore that they would do whatever Jeremiah told them that God said they should do, even if they did not like the answer. However, when Jeremiah gave them God’s answer, they claimed that Jeremiah was lying because he wanted to bring harm to them. When we ask for God’s guidance it is important that we follow it. I was going to say “even if it is not what we want to hear,” but the fact is it is important that we follow that guidance especially when it is not what we wanted to hear.