To Whom will You Listen?6/14/2024 ![]() 2 Chronicles 10:8 ~ "But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him." Rehoboam took counsel when he was elevated to be king in Israel. Solomon, the man of wisdom and son of David, surrounded himself with those who would give him honest and godly counsel. Those same counselors stood before Rehoboam and offered sage and trustworthy advice as the young man stood to receive the throne and shepherd the people of God. Yet the young king also had advisers, those of his own age and deportment who forsook the aged counselors and offered their inexperienced opinions to the fledgling king. If you are to read 2 Chronicles, chapter ten, you will see that there was no moving Rehoboam to listen to the wise and experienced men who helped Solomon. He hearkened to the counsel of those his own age, he listened to his friends who had grown up with him and enjoyed the luxury of youthful self-indulgence. And, because the young king listened to the words of his friends and not those who would guide the monarch with wisdom, he ended up dividing the nation of Israel--with ten tribes defecting and forming their own kingdom. A nation formed by the LORD to be His people united was now a nation of brothers divided. All because of who Rehoboam heeded. Let this text today bring a question to the surface of your thinking. To whom will you listen? What counsel do you heed when you have real decisions to make? It is true that many will want to listen to their friends, or find people who will always agree and offer their affirmations of anything that you might want to think. Their wisdom is of such little value, you'd be better off not heeding any advice at all. Proverbs 22:15 states, "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him." Others seek the wisdom of the world, hoping to gain some new insights or acquire a grand philosophy that satisfies their self-interests. But the Scripture describes the wisdom of the world, "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice" (James 3:14-16). And though it is true that not all gray-haired saints are rich with wisdom, yet there is a strong axiom that proves out: experience is a great teacher for those who are willing to learn from it. Consider the words of Elihu from Job 32:7, "I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’" And though he later rebuked the three friends for failing in their refutation against Job, the principle does still apply. There is wisdom with those who have walked by faith, and especially those who have long journeyed with the LORD. Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." If you hold yourself to be one who goes forward with wisdom, it will be necessary to put those childish ways aside. So, we go back to the question at hand--from where do you seek wisdom? To whom will you listen? Proverbs 15:14, "The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly." Let us not be like Rehoboam and abandon the wisdom of those who have walked many years with the LORD. If you are a young in the faith, newly striding through life in following Christ, then it will be to your blessing and benefit to find those who have long obeyed the word of God and heed their counsel as you go. Remember the words of Proverbs 11:14, "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." In His Grace, Pastor Michael
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