THINK TOGETHER.
Only a scale of 1-10 how stubborn are you?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 23:9. Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.
There are some people who just won’t listen. They refuse to hear the truth and listen to good advice. These people are what Proverbs calls fools. Fools aren’t just stupid, they’re stubborn. How can you tell when someone is a fool? Because they despise the good sense of your words. They just want to do things their own way all the time.
Obviously we don’t want to be fools ourselves; we want to listen to what wise people say and love good sense, especially the good sense of God found in the Bible. This proverb is warning us, not about being fools ourselves, but about spending too much time talking to fools. Do you have any friends that just won’t listen? They don’t listen to teachers, or parents, or even God. Hopefully not.
Jesu said something similar in his Sermon on the Mount. He said, “Don’t give your pearls to the swine (pigs).” What on earth does that mean? It means pigs won’t care that pearls are pearls and very precious. They’ll just trample them into the mud like they do everything else. And some people are this way too. They just ignore good advice and “trample it into the mud.”
These are hard sayings because it sounds like we should just give up on trying to be a good influence on these stubborn people, or that we should stop trying to convince them about God and Jesus. Is that what Solomon and Jesus are saying? No. But they are saying that there are some people who become so hard hearted that talking won’t change their mind, and all you can do for them is pray. Pray that Jesus will open up their hearts to truth, even if he has to break their heart to do it. Remember, no one is beyond God’s love and grace, not even a fool.
Because of Jesus no one is beyond God’s love and grace.
With Jesus we can know when to talk and when to just pray for our friends.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Do you know anyone that is actively rejecting the gospel? Maybe someone that you have shared Jesus with, but they won’t listen? Spend time as a family actively praying for this person. Make praying for the unsaved a priority.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, I don’t want to be a fool that won’t listen to you. Help me to always have an open heart, and help me to pray for others who don’t. Amen.
TLICfamily 