Read the Directions: Proverbs 3:1-8 - 9th Sunday after Pentecost

If Ikea has contributed anything positive to the world, it would not be their affordable ready-to-assemble furniture with stylish, modern Scandinavian flair.

Ikea forces people to read directions.

It also helps to read the dimensions. I learned this the hard way when we bought Rebecca a computer desk. There wasn’t enough room to assemble it in her bedroom, so I assembled it in our bedroom and planned to move in. This seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, it didn’t fit through the doorway, and after three hours of work, I had to disassemble most of it and then reassemble it in her room.

Those directions were child’s play compared to those for the 1100-piece children’s playset we assembled during our Spring mission trip. The directions claimed that the entire set could be assembled by two people in four hours. Unfortunately for our team, the directions were about as clear as mud, and we soon discovered a full one-third of all the wood planks were missing. These planks had to be purchased from a lumber yard, then measured, cut, and sanded by us. Fortunately, we had a professional engineer with us with a lifetime’s worth of carpentry experience to help us get the job done (in three-and-a-half days). 

Photo by Evgeniy Surzhan on Unsplash

Nevertheless, I’m often tempted to ignore directions, because I feel like I don’t need them. Reading them would only slow me down, and there’s a certain satisfaction that comes with completing a task while relying exclusively on your own skills and judgment. But there’s a reason why even the simplest things (like shampoo) come with directions: improper usage or assembly can make the product useless or even dangerous.

I loathe to consider how many disasters have been caused by people who thought they knew what they were doing but didn’t, or by people who cut corners to save time and money. Building codes exist for a reason. Licensing exists for a reason. And even if you build something right, you need to maintain it properly, and that also requires expertise. The biggest projects don’t just rely on one expert but many experts, you need more than one set of eyes to make sure all the pieces fit.

And there is something that is far more complex even than skyscrapers, nuclear reactors, or the electrical grid: life.

That may sound absurd at first, because many people live good and purposeful lives without advanced degrees. And yet, we educate children for a minimum of thirteen years, and even that is insufficient to fully develop the human mind. Skills must be learned over time; talents must be nurtured through disciplined practice. Morals must be taught and reinforced. Like the body, the mind must be regularly exercised to stay healthy and strong.

Unfortunately, our world has little need for morals, virtues, or wisdom. Power, privilege, and pleasure are the highest goods one can attain. The neighbor’s welfare doesn’t matter, the planet’s welfare doesn’t matter, only the individual matters. And while some treat the human race as an actual race to be won, others see life as a daily right for survival, because their fundamental human needs are not being met.

In the end, we don’t just need Jesus to save us from death; we need him to save us from life and how we’re living it.

Much of the Book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon, someone who acquired everything that could be wanted out of life: unmatched wealth, unsurpassable power, and unparalleled wisdom. You’d think he would have been the perfect king. But he wasn’t. He was terrible. He levied high taxes on his people to support has lavish lifestyle and the construction projects which were monuments to his ego rather than a contribution to the common good. He married numerous foreign women and worshiped their gods. In time, he lost the respect of his people, and his failure to lead them properly led to Israel splitting apart into separate kingdoms.

Fortunately, Solomon immortalized what he’d learned from his errors in the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. He writes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.” “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”

Life is too complex a thing to be figured out on your own. So why would you live life without reading the instructions? Without the support of others? Detached from the one who gave you life?

If you’re going to live life well, read the directions! Not just once, but every day. Don’t wait until you’re feeling lost and helpless to open up your bible, because if you’re not a committed bible student, it’s going to feel like a quantum physics book. But if you haven’t read it before, there are easy ways to get started. You’ve already taken the first step by coming to church and hearing it.

We have free devotional booklets which will help to feed your mind and soul with God’s Word every day.

If you want to understand the Bible, don’t go at it alone. Scripture comes alive in relationships. People make it real, because the same truths God’s people lived out in the past are still being lived out today. That’s why we call it the Book of life!

No one has ever built a skyscraper, a bridge, or a power plant without directions or without the help of others.

The biggest fool is the person who thinks they know everything and can do everything solely by their will and determination.

Don’t be a fool. Trust in the Lord. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge God, and he will make your pathways straight.