8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.
As a Christian, the commandments we receive are different than the commandments of the Old Testament law—though, they are no different than what God always wanted from His people—and that is a heart that seeks to know God and obey Him out of love and sincerity.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
As a Christian, I am thankful that even though we are babbling (prating) fools by nature, God sent His Son to die so that we could learn His ways—so that people of all nations could worship the One true God—and in so doing we are made free from the kingdoms of this world and the prince of it.
As a Christian, I am thankful that through the Holy Spirit, I can have the commandments of God written on my heart, changing me so that I am less foolish over time and more aligned with the wisdom of God—a wisdom that teaches us how to keep the commandments of God—which are more difficult than we might think.
It is not in our nature to love God and love others as we should. It is in our nature to destroy ourselves, to destroy others, and to rebel against God. It is in our nature to love death, and “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
Speaking words of death makes us babbling fools.
How much of what we speak is babble?
Do we speak things that are true or do we speak lies? Do we speak words that bring understanding, peace, and comfort, or do we speak words that bring confusion, fear, violence, and grief?
There is a lot of confusion, fear, violence, and grief in this world, and we are blessed to have it so. Think about it. Look at what is happening in this world and in our country. People eat up violence. Does it make you stop and think about your own violent and death-brining tendencies? Does the confusion of this world strengthen your appreciation for Jesus and for fellow Christians? It should. God has ordained that it would. All things are for our good.
As Christians, we can seek to know Jesus better so that we are not adding to the noise.
As Christians, we are not to participate in Babble—and with the change of heart that the gospel brings, we will not.
“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
I know we are still waiting for a Kingdom, but there is also a Kingdom of Heaven that is “not with observation” and “within you.”
We can seek that Kingdom, and in that Kingdom, we have rest in Jesus Christ. We have peace and life in a world of confusion and death. In the flesh, we will go astray from this Kingdom at times, but with the Holy Spirit within us we are convicted of sin, chastised if necessary, and brought back.
Let us keep pushing forward in the Kingdom of Heaven—though we live in Babble—and learn to keep the commandments of God, even in this world and in this time.
“Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
It is not easy to stand fast in the ways of God in a world of iniquity and hate. We need supernatural power, and that is what we are promised as adopted sons of God.
“Those who walk after the Spirit of God are the sons of God.”
Jesus will return and establish His Kingdom—and no babbling fool will enter into it. By the grace and mercy of God towards us who love Jesus Christ, we are forgiven of our foolishness and transformed by His Spirit—and even now, in this present world, we can grow in the things of the Kingdom of God as the commandments of God are written in our hearts—and we will not be babbling, death-loving fools.
However, those who love death will not love us, and when Death comes to control this world in a very present way, they will love him and destroy us.
They hated Jesus first, and He knows exactly what we are dealing with and He will give us strength to overcome. We do so by continuing to seek Him. Though we fail and behave foolishly, He forgives us. Keep the faith and keep seeking Jesus. He will continue to work in your heart if you put Him first.
We all have room to grow in the Kingdom of Heaven—and in so doing, the kingdom of death has no more power over us, using us to bring death to others. In Jesus, we bring life and light to a world of confusion and babble—even a world of Babylon—and we though many of us might die, we have the resurrection. We have life. Let death have death.
Jesus Alone 