Such a man is not only a danger, he is in danger, as the last half of the verse shows–“there is more hope of a fool than of him.” Fools don’t have much hope, except for the chance that something will happen to make them aware of their folly. However, the chances of the happening to “the man wise in his own conceit” are slim and none. As Spurgeon said, “The fool may learn, but the conceited man will not.  There is more hope of a sinful Publican than of a self-righteous Pharisee.” There is more hope for a stupid man than one who is self-conceited. H. V. Lugt wrote, “ The Lord Jesus reached down to the most despised people of His day—publicans and harlots—and forgave them when they repented. But He condemned self-righteous people and resisted all who didn’t face up to their sin. Refusing to acknowledge sin is a sure ticket to hell! Insisting we don’t need His forgiveness is life’s greatest sin. God can forgive us no matter what we do, but we must repent and turn to Jesus.” 

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” – 1 Peter 2:2

Can you imagine a conversation like this?
“I’m just so weak I can hardly get out of bed. I just don’t want to go to work, I’m so weak.”
“Well, what’s the matter? Have you been to the doctor?”
“No.”
“Do you have a disease?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What are you eating?”
“Well, I have this restaurant I go to on Sundays—sometimes—if it’s not raining, and I get a meal there. That’s all I eat.”
“You mean that’s all you eat?”
“Yeah, and I’m just so weak.”
Friend, organized worship is just to whet your appetite. If you don’t learn how to feed yourself the Word of God during the week, you will never grow. You’ll be sick and weak spiritually.

Dig in to the abundant nourishment of God’s Word. It will be a source of victory and a source of joy.–Adrian Rogers

I hope our recent experience of reading through Romans 12 each day for a month will whet your appetite to continue the practice, picking a different chapter each month. Although that shouldn’t be all you do, that is a good way to maintain your focus on God’s Word. I heard a lot of testimonies about the blessings gained from reading Rom. 12 and no complaints. If you missed out last month, pick a chapter and and try this for yourself.

Everyday people are injured and killed as a result of being distracted– many because they were texting while driving. Yet even more people are adversely affected because they take their eyes off of Jesus. Hopefully you are not among their number. That is a mistake that affects others as well as you. Not only does it cause you to go astray, it causes you to mislead others. For safety sake keep your eyes on Him. If I could have but one plaque hanging on my wall it would be this–“Looking unto Jesus“. That describes exactly how I want to spend my life. Put in a verse it looks like this–“For to me to live is Christ..“(Phil. 1:21). To live like Him I must look to Him–that’s what changes me (2 Cor. 3:18). I look at Him because He is looking at me. The best advice I can give you is this–Keep your eyes on the Lord. He never takes His eyes off you”. The old song said it well,  “Turn you eyes upon Jesus”.

Life can be difficult and frightening. It is common to find yourself in situations where you see no way out. It appears that God doesn’t see you and you feel as though He has forgotten you. It is then that you need to look at the facts, which are stated in God’s Word. That gives us faith to act. In the story of Hagar we learn a valuable lesson. One of God’s names is El Roi, “the God who sees“. Whatever your circumstances, God knows, God cares, and God can help, but you must trust Him. And that will give you the faith to act, to go on when all seems lost.