Proverbs 15:5-8 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 15:5-8, which read,

v.5 - A fool rejects his father's discipline, but he who regards reproof is sensible.

Another common theme and subject of the book of Proverbs is the topic of discipline.  It ranks right up there with the use of the tongue.  Discipline is directly related to wisdom and the following of it.  If you are seeking wisdom then you are going to need to deal with discipline and reproof.

The fool disregards reproof and rejects discipline.  The discipline is coming from his father, his very personal relationship with kin connection.  It is from someone who loves him and has a responsibility to protect and provide for him.  The discipline is not coming from a unfeeling, distant, not connected person.  

How do you respond to discipline and reproof from those who love you?   Do you reject it and disregard it or do you see who is giving the corrective instruction and take it in for serious consideration?

v.6 - Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked.

The wicked have an income from their labors and it includes trouble.  The righteous have an inheritance from their connection to their father and it includes great wealth.  One just has an income but the other has a house.  One just has something from what they have labored for but the other has a dwelling place provided by another.  Each receives more than what they thought they would get.  The wicked wanted great wealth but gets trouble.  The righteous may see trouble because of following after God in a world that hates Him but they get great wealth.  The irony of Proverbs continues.

v.7 - The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of the fools are not so.

We are back to the tongue.  This is a good time to look at our conversations.  What do those conversations spread?  Are they filled with non-essential details that change with the weather or are they filled with eternal details that are constant because God is constant?  The wise are out and about spreading while the fool is harboring selfishly things within his or her heart.  What comes out of our mouths?  What do we allow to pour out of our mouths that has come from our hearts?  

v.8 - The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

If we are seeking after the wisdom of the Lord then we are also going to worship Him.  We are not going to be able to not lift up the name of the One who lived, died, and rose again for us.  We will put ourselves in places to individually praise Him and corporately praise Him.  It will be a high priority to humbly come before the One who redeemed us.  This type of worship is a sacrifice of self but it is delight to the Lord.

There are many who do religious activities but they are not for the purpose of worshipping God.  They follow through with traditional actions but the agenda is me focused rather than God focused.  It looks like a sacrifice but it really has selfish strings attached to draw attention to oneself.  God calls that kind of worship an abomination because it is to the person rather than to Himself.  

How do you worship?  What is your focal point when you sit down with the Scriptures or you enter the sanctuary?  Is it on what I am going to get or what I am going to give?  It is a struggle and battle because we live in a world that seeks to be seen rather than seeking to bow.  Our worship is a delight to God when we come before Him to be with Him.  Our worship is an abomination to God when we come to elevate ourselves in the presence of others by using culturally holy actions as proof to them that we are therefore holy.  Let's pray.

"Lord the focus today was on discipline and reproof; what comes out of our mouths and what we harbor in our hearts; and how we worship of You and pray to You.  May we see that Your discipline is coming from You, our loving heavenly Father.  May we see that what comes from our mouths is evident of what is in our hearts.  May we see that our worship needs to be examined that it is not of ourselves but truly of You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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