You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
15
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, NASB
Therefore you are to walk circumspectly, 'akribos,' which means diligently, perfect, most exact.
This means that you are to pay attention to your life, and how you live your life and that your values and guidelines are those that you have been given by God, and not from your own devices.
Too many people play a pretend game with the Bible. Their focus in on what they want people to see and hear from them, and thus they try to impress people, rather than God, while all the while they have made themselves believe that God is paying attention to them, when He is not.
This pretend game may seem innocent, but the reality is that when it lasts a long time, some folks become fanatical about their own beliefs and that usually ends up in violence. We all saw in the news these last couple of days, the attack that occurred in Libya, where some fanatics committed murder in the name of the Islam god and prophet, who are both non-existent and false.
They are certainly classified as unwise or fools, as well as murderers. Unwise people are fools and fools can become murderers in the name of their stupidity.
But those fanatics are not alone in the world. Anyone who ignores God, and doctrine, have learned nothing and are likewise classified as unwise. That could be you.
The only way to rid yourself of that label is to get with your spiritual life as God has defined it, and get rid of your own shallow excuses and ways.
One of the easiest ways out of responsibility is to do nothing.
And pursuing a course of emotional pretense is doing nothing.
To do something, like studying the Bible every day, is work, and that is doing something, which the vast majority of folks do not like to do.
After all in a study you have to do it every day, you have to listen, you have to learn, you have to understand, you have to confess your sins, you have to memorize verses in order to help you focus, and so forth. And especially you have to set aside your own approbation drives, and place yourself in a humble mental posture wherein you are willing to listen and be taught. Many folks do not like to be taught.
It seems far better and certainly easier to pretend, rather than study, to talk like you know what you are talking about, rather than listening, to act the part rather than dealing with reality. And that is where people get life confused.
If you have not believed in Christ, then you have no spiritual life.
You must first believe in Christ in order to have access to a functional spiritual life.
Then as a believer, if you do not confess your sins daily and even regularly during the day, you have no functioning spiritual life.
If you do not engage in a daily study under instruction, under the authority of a qualified instructor, then you have no direction in your spiritual life.
If you do not learn, then you will have no understanding.
If you have no understanding then you will have no wisdom.
If you have no wisdom then you will have no functional faith.
If you have no legitimate faith, then you have nothing.
If you have none of these things then your spiritual life is unproductive. You are nothing more than a vine that does not do what it is supposed to do, which is to be productive. And what does a good gardener do with unproductive vines? He gets rid of them as worthless.
The only path to wisdom, is through a daily study, through a daily study while in fellowship, living a daily life while in the fellowship sphere. And the result then, is spiritual maturity and the completion of your life as God intends.
