Proverbs 18:17-20 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 18:17-20, which read,

v.17 - The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him.

What a good proverb.  Many times I have went with the first thing I heard only to find out it wasn't true or completely true.  This is a great proverb to apply to internet use and sharing.  There is so many times that things are passed along the web as true but with a little examination and investigation we find they are a hoax.  Eye grabbing headlines and copying official looking graphics puts before us something that looks real but it isn't.  We also know that this can be done by us in person also.  We can put on a good show and give a convincing speech of something that isn't or maybe partially true but if someone dug a little deeper they would see our story and show to fall apart.

How discerning are you?  Especially with the internet, do you check sources before sharing that juicy tidbit along?  Do you apologize to those you send those things unto when you find out the error?  How truthful are you?  When others dig deeper into what you say will they continue to find truth?

v.18 - The cast lot puts an end to strife and decides between the mighty ones.

Justice and the process of it are so necessary.  We need our court systems and our spiritual leaders on the church level to weigh the evidence and cast a lot of what is right and what is wrong.  A third party to mediate becomes essential in our world of sin.  Going back to Proverbs 16:33, it says, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD."  The sovereignty of God is always played out, even through the human casting of lots to determine the outcome.  

What if the cast lot is found out later to be actually wrong?  We would have to assume from Scripture that in God's perfect will it was to be that way for awhile for a purpose that we do not know at this time.  We do know that all injustice will be righted in the end by Him and in His way.

v.19 - A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a citadel.

The feuds that happen between family and families can be fierce.  Just look at the Hatfields and the McCoys!  Restoration and reconciliation can come quicker to a whole city wronged than between brother and brother.  The point is to not put yourself in that position by telling things that are not true.  Don't be a person who constantly needs mediation to come in and dig a little deeper to see if your word is true.  This goes along the story we heard as children about the one who cried "wolf."  

There are levels of trust experienced when trust is broken.  Here are those levels that I learned from another. 

 

• The first is mediated trust where everything is questioned and a third part is essential.  
• The second is validated trust where physical evidence is needed to prove what you say is what you did.  
• The third is functional trust when things are just starting to be done together on a very limited and structured basis.  
• The fourth is factual trust where the sharing of non essential items are shared between the offended parties showing the start of a normal relationship.  
• The last is emotional trust when you again start to share how you feel, what you believe, and share even disappointments and sorrows.  

We want to mess up and jump right back to where we were but it doesn't work that way.  It is hard work that is so necessary and good to do to see restoration happen.  It is good for you because you are allowing God to transform you to be like Him.

v.20 - With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be satisfied; he will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

The stomach represents something deeper in our lives.  When we are truthful with our lips it feeds the soul within.  It feeds our soul and the souls of those we are communicating to.  Aren't you so thankful when you find someone who is truly honest and faithful?  You are looking for that in a doctor or a teacher or a car mechanic.  Even if it is bad news about the car, if you know that mechanic is giving you a truthful diagnosis and a very fair and ethical bill for the repairs that will be performed as said, you rest easy deep within.  Usually that type of person will also do beyond what you expect.  They will treat your car like it was their own and like they were going to be the one driving it and depending on its reliability.  

The proverb is saying to be that person.  It is great to find that person but be that person.  Be the person who walks in verbal truthfulness to those around you.  Again, in our world that spreads to all forms of communication that we have.  Let us pray.

"Lord, what a challenge in our day when so much is before us that is not so or not totally so.  Help us to see how much more we need to be truthful with our communication.  May we see how the light of Your truth gets so much brighter in the darkness of this world.  Help us also to rebuild the trust where we have tore it down with our words and actions.  Do the work in us that needs to be done even through our sin and needed restitutions.  Amen."

Pastor Adam