Why not listen……
Ecclesiastes 9:17”Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.”
Do we have time to pause and listen to words of the wise? No. No. People are agog to hear anything that is promising, inspiring, interesting and spicy, I was astounded to watch a man speak over the mobile for over three hours (no exaggeration) in the upper berth of the train, counseling a man desperately in need for career guidance, I guess. There is an insatiable thirst today for information, wisdom and knowledge like never before. Never has there been so many seminars and massive teaching conventions. Huge screens are needed just to show who the teacher is on the distant stage and afterward people flock to sale tables to buy hundreds of dollars' worth of tapes. I’m talking about both spiritual and secular. Do they benefit and bless you? Million dollar question!
People would desperately try hard and visit a Psychiatrist and pour out their problems to him rather than listen to godly people and walk in their advice. Counseled by his friend who cared a lot for him, a Christian gentleman filled his resume with false information, only to be later rejected in the interview. These kind of advices are like the shout of a ruler of fools! We use the google search engine for answers pertaining to life rather than flip the pages of the Bible for wisdom and knowledge. I am speaking to someone out there!
I want to share an incident from the fourth chapter of the book of Daniel, which was written by king Nebuchadnezzar himself and inserted in the Bible for our spiritual nourishment. Nebuchadnezzar again had a dream but this time he remembered the dream and when the wise men and magicians were not able to interpret the dream, Daniel as usual came before the king and was horrified and dumbstruck for one hour when he heard the dream and understood the great calamity and destruction that was destined for the king by God. Daniel fearlessly narrates the dream and the terrible punishment that would befall the king. Thank God for Daniel! We need more men of God like Daniel who will speak the word in due season without watering it down! Daniel tells the king that he would be driven away from men to dwell among beasts for seven years until he realizes that the Lord rules the heaven and the universe, but wait a minute; Daniel did not just interpret the dream and walk away but he gently and lovingly counsels the king to repent, read: Daniel 4:27”Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity." Did the king listen? NO. God waited for 12 months but the lofty heart of the king never changed and he declared: ‘my great Babylon that I built’, that very moment the great judgment came on him and he was struck mad and his understanding and memory were gone, and all the senses of a normal human vanished, so that he went naked on all four, like a brute and ate grass.
There are many out there who swagger and brag about their academic qualifications and achievements; hear me friend, all those become garbage without GOD. Are you listening? ‘My hard work, my hands that labored, my brain..’ all such words will be judged by God! What would happen if God strikes your brain and you go mad like king Nebuchadnezzar? Pause and listen!
Today there is a mad pursuit for knowledge, when would this reign of error end? The Lord says: " Seek Me and live.” (Amos 5:4) I am not against wisdom, knowledge and success, but when it is achieved outside God then the problem arises. Ecclesiastes 1:18”For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”
