15 JUNE

WHO WANTS TO BE A FOOL?

“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger rests in the bosom of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9)

No one wants to be a FOOL but we have all had cause to be angry. The Bible is clear that we can get angry sometimes but we must exercise self-control and not allow the anger to rest in us. Very importantly, the questions about the anger may be: At who? To what degree – is it anger or wrath? At what time? For what purpose? In what way? Does your anger solve the problem?

Jesus, with zeal for His Father’s house, was angry at the disobedient merchants who turned the temple into a market and He solved the problem as He drove them out and restored the temple and healed the sick who came to the temple. He was angry at the disobedient; angry, not abusive, at the right time, to correct and fulfil the purpose of the temple in bringing solutions to the people’s problems.   

Arthur Gordon told a story of a turbulent public meeting in which he lost his temper and said some harsh and sarcastic things. The proposal he was supporting was unanimously turned down. His father who was there, said nothing; but that night, on his pillow, his father left a marked passage from Aristotle: “Anybody can become angry–that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way–that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”

Anger is sometimes expensive and its effects are irreversible. Is it worth the price?

ACTION: Be angry but sin not. Work on self-control, even in provocative situations.

PRAYER: Lord please help me not to be a fool.