(We missed one last week but at least we'r nice adn early this time)
A man who wants no friends is seeking selfish ends; from all sound judgement he descends 18:1 An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgement.
It is sometimes surprising where the rub of Scripture will expose a raw nerve. I must confess to feeling more convicted in the face of this verse than many other more obvious ones. There is some difficulty in translating the first part of it but the NIV is probably right.
Here is a character we have not really met in these pages before, although we may well have come across him in life or find the tendency in ourselves. He 'separates himself' or is 'unfriendly'. He 'seeks according to his desire' or 'pursues selfish ends'. When he states an opinion it is as likely that he does it to create attention as it is that he says it because he believes it. Selfishness drives him. Such a man 'meddles' (a rare word) 'with all wisdom' - he defies all sound judgement. We want to avoid such a person. He is the very opposite of the friend who sticks closer than a brother (24).
We must ask ourselves whether we are also unfriendly in some of our attitudes. How much of what we say and do is a matter merely of selfishness? I can remember childhood acts of unfriendliness that shame me now – telling a nosy little boy to go away (I still remember his sad face); acting unpleasantly towards boys who were rather better spoken than the rest of us; actually hurting a girl guilty of the same 'crime'. Unfriendliness is a sin to repent of.
A man who wants no friends is seeking selfish ends; from all sound judgement he descends 18:1 An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgement.
It is sometimes surprising where the rub of Scripture will expose a raw nerve. I must confess to feeling more convicted in the face of this verse than many other more obvious ones. There is some difficulty in translating the first part of it but the NIV is probably right.
Here is a character we have not really met in these pages before, although we may well have come across him in life or find the tendency in ourselves. He 'separates himself' or is 'unfriendly'. He 'seeks according to his desire' or 'pursues selfish ends'. When he states an opinion it is as likely that he does it to create attention as it is that he says it because he believes it. Selfishness drives him. Such a man 'meddles' (a rare word) 'with all wisdom' - he defies all sound judgement. We want to avoid such a person. He is the very opposite of the friend who sticks closer than a brother (24).
We must ask ourselves whether we are also unfriendly in some of our attitudes. How much of what we say and do is a matter merely of selfishness? I can remember childhood acts of unfriendliness that shame me now – telling a nosy little boy to go away (I still remember his sad face); acting unpleasantly towards boys who were rather better spoken than the rest of us; actually hurting a girl guilty of the same 'crime'. Unfriendliness is a sin to repent of.
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