For Better Or Worse

For Better or Worse.

By Pastor John Price

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Proverbs 16:16,19,32

16 How much better to get wisdom than gold!

And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. ---19 Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, ----32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. NKJV

Intro:

• Have you ever notice how some people spend there lives making bad choices?

Mark 10:17-22

17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" 18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ’Do not commit adultery,’ ’Do not murder,’ ’Do not steal,’ ’Do not bear false witness,’ ’Do not defraud,’ ’Honor your father and your mother.’ " 20 And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. NKJV

• To choose life is better than death. God has set before us the greatest choice that we will we ever make.

• All through God’s word we find the opportunity to choose better over worse.

Joshua 24:15-18

15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." 16 So the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; 17 for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God." NKJV

• God loves us so much that He will always offer us the better way!

• It has been said that “Decisions are public displays of our Character”.

Conclusion:

In Our main text we read that it is better to get wisdom than gold or silver (v.16); better to be humble among the poor than to be proud among the wealthy (v.19); better to control our temper than to rule a city (v.32). Some people have the ability to be both wise and wealthy. But when faced with a choice between the two, Proverbs says wisdom is the better alternative.

• When God’s Word shapes our thinking and guides our choices, we’ll discover that His way is always better. What will your choice be Today?