A Journey Toward Wisdom - Pt. 14

 

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just. The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is upright. (Proverbs 21:1-8 ESV).

 

Abraham Lincoln is quoted to have had said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” Solomon takes this a bit further than Lincoln did. Solomon teaches us that everyone thinks that their way is right; and it may be from their viewpoint, but God weighs the intentions of the heart. People appear to have good intentions, but God really knows what our true motives are. So, maybe the new quote should be: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, including yourself, but you can’t fool God.” F. Scott Fitzgerald puts it this way: “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!” This is the focus of genuine integrity.

 

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word translated “integrity” means “the condition of being without blemish, completeness, perfection, sincerity, soundness, uprightness, wholeness.” Integrity in the New Testament means “honesty and adherence to a pattern of good works.”

 

Jesus is the perfect example of a man of integrity. After He was baptized, He went into the wilderness to fast for forty days and nights, during which time Satan came to Him at His weakest to try to break His integrity and corrupt Him. Jesus was wholly man and wholly God at the same time, and He was tempted in every way we are, yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15); that is the definition of integrity. Jesus is the only one who was ever without blemish, perfect, completely truthful, and always showing a pattern of good works. He is our example. He is our measure for wisdom. What do you do when no one is watching?