Walk Circumspectly

Walk Circumspectly

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” 1 Cor. 3:18.

“If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.” 1 Cor. 8:2. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.” 1 Cor. 10:12.

Yes, danger lurks around the corner when you think you are something. Then you begin to be full, and God is far away. Your ears and your eyes become dull, because you are becoming self-confident. You don’t need to test or consider anything anymore, because you know it all so well. No one knows what might happen to such a person.

Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” for God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9-10. If anyone thinks he is something, he is strong—yet in reality he is weak. He relies on his human reasoning—what he has heard, learned, and seen— on his ability to judge, his memory, and his human capabilities. God—with His power and wisdom—cannot speak to him. Someone who is wise in his own eyes can hold long dissertations, but the wise refreshes the weary with one word. The one who is wise is weak in himself; he cannot think of anything as being from himself. 2 Cor. 3:5. He inquires, tests, and listens; and God, who knows the hearts and all the motives, gives him a word with which he can refresh the weary, comfort the fainthearted, chasten the unruly, and exhort the upright.

“As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Rom. 8:14. God’s Spirit can lead us as we lose confidence in ourselves. Then we begin to walk by faith. The righteous live by faith. Abraham obtained the promise when there was nothing left in himself in which he could put his confidence. Then he could give God the glory. We can only obtain the promise by faith if we have nothing left in ourselves in which we can put our confidence. When we become weak, then God’s strength is revealed in us.

Jesus did nothing of Himself; He only acted and spoke according to what He had seen and heard from His Father. John 8:28. He didn’t know if He should go to the feast, but He exercised Himself in proving God’s will from one moment to the next. The more confidence we have in ourselves, the more of our own will be revealed. Therefore it will not endure, but it will burn up on the day of trial.

The holy men of God spoke, moved by the Holy Spirit. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not one tittle of what they have spoken. Jesus said that the words He had spoken would judge them on the last day. We will experience the same thing if we are not busy with all the things we know and understand, but are attentive and speak what the Spirit says to us; then it will also not pass away. Everything that Jesus said and did will remain forever. Therefore we need to be like babes and be willing to be led by the Spirit.

Paul was among the Corinthians in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 1 Cor. 2:3. The one who thinks he is something has departed from this fear and trembling. If David had always walked in this fear and trembling, he would not have had such a shameful stain on his life. If Solomon had been humble to the end, he would have kept his wisdom and increased in it.

If we walk in fear and trembling, proving what the will of God is, we will not stumble, but our path will be like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.