What Do You Mean

(Proverbs 9:4 KJV)  Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

Often you can’t tell right from wrong by the words used.  Think of all the people talking about love.  We hear a lot about peace.  How about justice?  These are the obvious ones.  In education we have terms like “authentic assessment” and “cooperative learning”.  In politics we are told we need more “bipartisan” approaches.  The problem is in what the words mean. 

I remember having a long discussion once with some Jehovah’s Witnesses who came to my door.  They told me that they believed Jesus was the Son of God.  At least that is what I heard.  The words were fine but what they really meant was that Jesus was a son of god.  You had to know exactly what to ask and when to ask it.  They also believed that you and I are sons of god. 

So?  Be wary.  Always plug in your mind.  Don’t accept what people say at face value unless you know them well enough to trust them and even then be wary.  Wisdom and truth are available but not if we insist on being “simple” (naive NASB) (5493).