Meditation
What is the relationship between counsel, wisdom, and reason? How do you define these three words? I suggest the following definitions:
– Counsel has to do with the advice you receive regarding a decision you must make.
– Reason has to do with whether or not you agree with the counsel.
– Wisdom has to do with your satisfaction with the outcome or consequences of your decision.
Of these three words, the most nebulous and subjective is wisdom. No one can be certain of the future. In this sense, life is a crapshoot. You place your “poker-chips” on what you think will happen in the future and take your chances that you are correct. If you believe that nothing exists beyond the grave, then “your satisfaction with the outcome or consequences of your decision” will be revealed in the temporal. If you believe that in eternity God will judge you on the basis of your decisions, then you must wait for Judgment to determine whether or not you made a correct decision.
For the followers of Christ, God’s counsel is found in Scripture. The problem is, most of His commandments appear unreasonable, and therefore you find little encouragement to obey them from the body of Christ. God asking Abraham to offer as a sacrifice his son Isaac is an extreme example of this. At this point you must decide whether you will follow the counsel of God or the counsel of fellow “Christians.” Do you honor depraved parents? Do you take a “brother” who cheated you before the civil courts? The list of such illustrations is legion.
If the Bible is correct, then you must be very careful regarding the use of reason and counsel.
– Never counsel another to violate the commandments of God.
– You cannot expect God’s wisdom in subjective decisions if you willfully neglect or ignore anyof His commandments.
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