What Common Sense May Be Today

Scripture: Have two goals: wisdom—that is, knowing and doing right—and common sense. Don’t let them slip away, for they fill you with living energy and bring you honor and respect. They keep you safe from defeat and disaster and from stumbling off the trail. Proverbs 3:21-23

Observation: As the proverbs continue to promote the pursuit of wisdom, they call out two objectives, both wisdom and common sense. Wisdom is defined several times as an understanding of God's will, laws, precepts, and guidance. Wisdom is, effectively, to learn what the Lord advises us to do, and then aligning our thoughts and deeds to that. However, common sense is something else.

Common sense seems to be about not just following God's direction, but also avoiding the situations that cause earthly issues. For the write of Proverbs, common sense seems first and foremost about that nature of interpersonal interactions and conflict. If wisdom is aligning our lives to God, common sense is understanding that others do NOT have wisdom, and to avoid situations where the resulting behaviors and situations of others could therefore lead a wise person into either foolishness or danger. This further aligns to other instructions about the behavior of believers ... we are to be humble, good, obedient, kind, gentle, and yet we are to also be careful, shrewd, and wary.

Application: We know that in this year, there will be a lot of conflicting information about what it means to be "safe" in the world. There are rules being created that mandate behaviors and define attitudes, many of which are based in fear. The Lord explicitly tells us never to be afraid, and thus ... wisdom tells us to proceed without fear, but ... what does godly common sense tells us to do?

First, I believe it tells us not to create direct conflict. In the end, the goal is to love others and continue informing them of the good news, and conflict impedes that directive.

Second, however, I believe common sense tells us to evaluate everything from a heavenly perspective, and to not allow evil elements to alter our behavior or attitudes.

I am struggling with understanding how to apply the Lord's common sense to my life in these circumstances. I am absolutely not afraid, but I am still searching for understanding.

Prayer: Lord, I see the circumstances of the world around us, and I confess I do not know how to find the balance between conformance to help those who are afraid, and resistance against a clearly spiritually evil action. May I turn to you in prayer more often, and seek your guidance in every aspect of life. In this manner, I would like to pursue both wisdom and common sense, but as both are defined by you alone. Amen.