Hopes placed in mortals die with them;
all the promise of their power comes to nothing.
Summary: Today’s passage is profound. It is simple, direct, and powerfully true.
Sometimes a few words strung together combine to form a thought so intensely true that it earns the title “Profound.” This passage is one such string of words.
Who puts their hope in mortals? At some point in our lives, we all do.
As children, we place our hope in our parents, our siblings, our teachers, and our friends. We hope the advice our playmates give us is good. We hope the old man on the street or the policeman can be trusted. We hope that our pastor, our doctor, the nurses that attend us, and our dentist can all be trusted.
As we get older, we put our hope in our friends. We hope that the kid in the front seat driving the ’54 Chevy with a lift kit knows how to keep it on the road. We hope our neighbor who borrowed our new tool(s) remembers to bring them back in one piece.
We hope the people running the businesses we buy our food from can be trusted to sell us healthy food. We hope that the people censoring social media are not corrupt monsters. We hope that the politicians we elect to manage our government are not even more corrupt monsters who would sell their grandmothers for a quick buck. We hope that the people who become judges are fair and just and not owned by corrupt non-government organizations (NGOs) that happen to be connected to hundreds of other NGOs and financed by a web of dark money siphoned off from the very government that taxes us and is supposed to protect us.
The good news is that mortals die, and corrupt, unredeemed mortals come to nothing. With their death comes the end of whatever power they might have held on this earth. Even better is the news that God loves us and wants the best for us. He loves us so much that “he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). “That is why we labor and strive,” writes Paul, “because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10).
Application: The only one in all Creation worth putting our hope in is the Creator himself.
Food for Thought: If it is not wise for us to place our hope in mortals, how are we to deal with people?
Morning,
I think it is important to find out whom “people” serve. Ultimately, putting your “hope” in someone is putting your hope on the one or thing they serve most. Stay grounded in Scripture, ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, and find out where they have placed God in their life.
Malachi 3:18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
Ephesians 6:7 Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Chris,
Excellent point. It is not always easy to know the answer to your question. The national church body I used to be associated with twenty years ago just came out with a position statement supporting the right to abortion. Whom do they serve? They say that they serve God, but…
I think how we deal with people changes some based on our relationship to them. It also changes based on whether they are fellows brothers and sisters in Christ or unbelievers.
There are over fifty “one another’s” in scripture. Love one another, forgive one another, bear with one another, encourage one another, etc.
Within the church body we treat each other like family.
Outside of the church body we still love and reach out. But we understand we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 14 – 21). So we need to be wise and look for opportunities, not blindly trusting them, but seeing them as unredeemed potential family members in the body of Christ. Colossians 4: 5 – 6; 1 Peter 3: 15 – 16; Mathew 5: 14 – 16.
Rich,
Thank you for reminding us about the “one anothers.” You paint a picture of people whose trust in others is dependent on our relationship to Christ. I think that is a very solid approach.
05-19-2022, Proverbs 11:7, If it is not wise for us to place our hope in mortals, how are we to deal with people?
A Pharisee asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The kind of love expressed in both of these laws is agape love. In regards to the second commandment, this love seeks for the greatest good for our neighbor.
Matthew 22:36-39
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
John 15:9-11
Study the 4 gospels, watch Jesus as He interacts with the people He encountered. Those who claimed to represent God. The woman accused as being a harlot and her accusers, the tax collector, sinners He ate with, the man possessed by 1,000 demons, King Herod, Pontius Pilate, His disciples.
Study the arrest, trial, physical abuse and crucification of Christ. THEN LISTEN TO HIS WORDS FROM THE CROSS.
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY ARE DOING.”
Luke 23:34
Then ask yourself, how are we to deal with people?
Ron,
Thank you. Your response is beautifully written. You wisely point us to Christ’s example, forgiveness.
Through prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit,..
It’s not easy to deal with people, but with the power imputed in me through Christ I am able to.
Yesterday as I was in Home Depot picking up supplies for the crews work projects for the day, the cashier lady asked me how I was doing,..I replied,..I am blessed. Her eyes lit up like a candle on a dark night and literally ran out from behind the cash register and gave me a hug like she knew me. Then we went on to have a great conversation about our Lord Jesus and what He has done for us and through us. People in line were kind of in awe, even the security guard wanted a hug and so did the other cashier.
This lady knew where my hope is, and now I know where hers is. We put our hope in Christ and He provides in abundance with love, mercy and grace. What’s cool is some of us actually get to experience it on display in front of those without hope, because it may just plant a seed of hope.
Today as I was there,..the lady just came up to me and gave me a hug,..out of nowhere,..and I know there are others watching,..I do hope that they are paying attention more than just watching some cashier come out from her booth to some guy and give him a hug. I don’t know this lady at all,..but when Christ is in the center does that really matter,..we know each other through Jesus and that’s what is so special and beautiful about being united in Christ.
Not sure if my answer fits with the application question but I hope that it did.
John,
Your story not only fits the question, it is like the icing on the cake! 🙂
You a living example of Christ’s love. People are drawn to that. Praise the Lord!
John, that is so precious!!!
It’s amazing the little things that God can use to encourage people 🙂 like word choice, or colors, or sticky notes