Certain and Humble
and certainly humble
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
If you are like me, you can probably recite this verse from memory even if you couldn’t tell someone where to find it other than to say, “It is in the Bible.” I know it so well because I have heard it so often. It was a favorite of the preachers I grew up under. It was often repeated by Sunday School teachers and was generally a part of the church language I have always been accustomed to.
What it says is true.
But why has it been plucked out and given so much prominence? While well-meaning, I think it serves the purpose of trying to undermine people’s confidence in what they believe, and think is true. It is good to do that when we see someone running towards a cliff.
But is it always true? Is everything we think of as right leading us to death? It can’t mean that. Yet, there is a tendency among some Christians to treat uncertainty about truth as a good thing.
They add qualifiers, and couch their language in phrases like, “It’s just my opinion, but…” They lack boldness and clarity. Some of that is simple cowardice, but some of it goes back to being discipled to think that they can’t trust anything they think about anything.
That is not what this proverb is trying to get us to do. Yes, people can and do run toward death with absolute confidence that they are running to life. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean we can’t have certainty about anything.
The key is to find your convictions, those things about which you are certain, in the Word of God. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” (John 14:6). Find your certainty in Him and His word and then be certain about it.
We should always be humble about what we don’t know and bold about what we do.
