Bible Study 6/21

Proverbs 16:1-17

Several of the cluster of proverbs this morning focus on a man's "way" or "path" - his course or direction in life.

v.1 - "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

v.2 - "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the Spirit."

v.3 - "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established"

v.9 - "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

In a general sense, I suppose a man's "way" could refer to the "way in which he lives his life". In a more specific sense, it could refer to the decisions that determine his direction in life.

In any case, the general principle here is to commit the plans you make to the Lord, and depend on Him for progress in these plans. This is not to say that we make our own plans and then ask the Lord to bless them, but that throughout the entire personal or group planning process we remind ourselves what the Lord's will is and give our plans to the Lord as an offering to do with as He wishes.

Romans 15:8-21

Paul compliments the Romans and their ability to teach one another the gospel. He says he has written to them very boldly "by way of reminder" because he is a priest in the service of the gospel of God. He is proud of the work that he has done in Christ in preaching to the Gentiles and seeing them come to faith by the Spirit of God.

He then talks about his ambition - to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named - where they have never heard of Christ. John Piper calls this Paul's "holy ambition". How few people share this ambition?