Expert Advice
Bible Reading: Psalm 119:65-68
You [Lord] are good and do only good; teach me your principles. Psalm 119:68
SUPPOSE YOU WANTED to be a pro basketball player someday. Then suppose that you had a choice: You could either have Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls teach you everything he knows about basketball, or you could learn basketball from Harvey Klibnitz, who feeds the pigeons at the town square every day. Which would you choose?
Or let’s put it like this: Say you wanted to become a famous country singer, and your parents agreed to pay for voice and guitar lessons. Then let’s say that your parents said you could take lessons either from LeAnn Rimes, a real country singer who had her first gold record when she was fourteen, or from Katie Sue Ann Bobbi Jo Higgenbottom, who once won the pig-calling contest at the county fair. Which would you choose?
Or suppose you wanted to be a computer whiz when you grew up. Let’s say your next-door neighbor on one side is Bill Gates, the multi-bazillionaire who started the Microsoft Corporation (the company that invented Windows) and your neighbor on the other side is Polly Wannacracker, who thinks a monitor is a famous ironclad battleship from the Civil War. Who would you ask for advice?
Or let’s just suppose that you want to make right choices in your life. You really care about what’s right and what’s wrong, and you don’t really want to hurt anybody or do anything wrong. Let’s also say that you have the word of the Almighty God about what’s right or wrong, the God who (the Bible says) is infinitely good and does no wrong. But let’s suppose you also have other opinions, like Freddy Finkleheimer, who says it’s not so bad to lie as long as you’re not hurting anyone. And you have the word of Amanda Lynn String, who says no one can tell you what’s right or wrong—you’ve got to figure that out yourself. Which one would you choose?
If you’re smart, of course, you’d choose Michael Jordan to teach you basketball and LeAnn Rimes to give you voice lessons. And you’d ask Bill Gates for computer advice instead of Polly Wannacracker. And you’d certainly believe God, the Maker of heaven and earth and source of everything that’s good, about what’s right or wrong, wouldn’t you? You’d listen to what he says in his Word and do what he says is right, wouldn’t you?
Of course you would, because you may not be an expert on right and wrong—but you know who the Expert is, don’t you?
REFLECT: Do you think you have to be an expert on right and wrong in order to make right choices? Why or why not? Do you think it would help to know an expert? Who is the world’s Number-One Expert on what’s right and what’s wrong? How can you seek his advice?
PRAY: “Lord, you are good and do only good. Please teach me your principles, and help me follow what you say instead of following what others around me are saying.”