The Way of Man

I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, 

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. 

—Jeremiah 10:23—

No one really wants to be ignorant. We like knowing things. Whether we’re talking about knowing scores or the news, we like knowing things. We don’t want to be thought of as being dumb or stupid. Some will insist that “Ignorance is bliss!” but who really wants to be ignorant?

One of the problems with knowledge, though, is that if it’s not tempered by discernment (being able to tell the difference between right and wrong), then knowledge alone only puffs us up (1 Corinthians 8:1), and makes us full of ourselves: just knowing things doesn’t necessarily become for us wisdom.

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may test and approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9–11). Bible knowledge is imperative to us as followers of Jesus. We need to know what He said and taught, and how He conducted Himself among sinful people.

To me, one of the most important characteristics of our Lord when He lived among mankind was His compassion. There’s one particular story that comes to mind where Jesus was angry with religious leaders because of their arrogant lack of compassion:

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored (Mark 3:1–5).

The apostle Paul points out that the world around us is full of people who walk in the futility of their minds, and that we’re not to live the way they do:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! (Ephesians 4:17–20)

Here’s the thing: twenty-first century mankind is (morally) no different from 1st century mankind! As the apostle Paul put it:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:18–22).

We want to believe that we control our destinies, but we don’t; despite having smartphones and all our modern conveniences. Losing electricity for a few days humbles us mightily (as it should). And, as the prophet Jeremiah cried out: “the way of man is not in himself … it is not in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

We desperately need humility (James 4:6–10). As God proclaimed through the prophet Isaiah: “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).

Maybe we believe that ignorance of God’s word is somehow going to help us, but how? We’re all going to stand before our Creator in judgment (Hebrews 9:27 / Romans 14:11–12 / 2 Corinthians 5:10 / Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). If we want heaven, then we need to know what pleases God. Read His word (Romans 10:17 / 1 Corinthians 2:6–16).