SHOPPING FOR ADVICE

Image result for CLIP ART SHOPPERHow many times have I left the grocery store with a full cart and then try to figure out what I am going to fix for the upcoming meal when I get home?  It was a challenge shopping with three little guys, but even now, I am plagued at times with the same question.  

 As you have faced a challenge, where all have you shopped to get the advice you wanted to hear?  1 Kings 12, King Rehoboam, King Solomon's son, has a complaint before him from the people of Israel as they come together to crown him king.  Perhaps they want to clear the air immediately.  Their complaint  is about the "hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us".  Rehoboam encourages the people to give him three days to come to a conclusion.  He, first, consults with the "elders" who have served his father and their advice is to grant the people their petition.  Scripture tells us that he "forsook" relinquishes the counsel of the elders and now checks in with his peers who have grown up with him.  Their counsel, "Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions."  Scorpions are whips with barbed points or bit of metal attached and when used would lacerate the skin with deep wounds.  I don't know about your thoughts, but REAL TROUBLE  is ahead for Rehoboam and his kingdom.


Since I am an older Christ follower, I have FINALLY found even in the toughest of times, that my first shopping trip for advice or counsel is the Word of God.  If I am going to get the advice from friends, I am going to choose those friends who are wise in the Word of God.  Years ago, a friend was telling me her woes, and I gave her advice to which was her reply, "Cheryl, I don't think that IS the Spirit of God speaking!"  My husband uses the phrase, "I am house-broken" when he has learned a truth from the Word of God  and he refuses to go back and repeat the experience.  Proverbs 1:5, "A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel."  Will I choose to learn from the Word of God or will I learn from my emotions, my impulses, or take a survey of advice from my friends?  Forever learning!  In process!  #IHAVETHREESONS 
 

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