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What happens when we distant ourselves from the Lord (The road of selfishness). 


Something strange happens when we distant ourselves from our Creator.



Proverbs 18 verses 1-3, 6-9, 12, and 21 gives us a few examples of what happens when we lose sight/fall into the things of the world: 


1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment. 


2 A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart. 


3 When the wicked comes, contempt comes also; And with dishonor comes reproach. 


6 A fool?s lips enter into contention, And his mouth calls for blows. 


7 A fool?s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul. 


8 The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into the inmost body. 


9 He who is slothful in his work. Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.


12 Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility. 


21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. 


The first few verses from this proverb describe someone who strays into wickedness, and the title given to this man is ?fool?, ?wicked?, and ?talebearer?. The fool despises understanding and hates wise judgment. His lips are full of wickedness. 


At times when I have not spent the right time with the Lord, I can relate to this passage. I can relate to the fool who walks in self-sufficiency. I become bitter. I have contempt for that which is good. And my lips continually break me down. I feel far from the Lord. But why is that? Why do we feel bitter? Why do we feel empty? The Bible makes this clear. From passages like John 4 and 15, and Matthew 11, we can plainly see that we can not walk-in self-sufficiency. 


John 4:13-14: 

13 Jesus answered, ?Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.? 


John 15:5-8: 

5 ?I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 


Matthew 11:28-30:

28 ?Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.? 


You see? We need the Lord. Apart from Him, I can do nothing. In my self-sufficiency, I can do nothing. From the time of our creation, we are made relational beings. For in the beginning the only thing that was ?not good? was that man was alone: 


Genesis 1:31: 

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 


Genesis 2:18: 

18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 

You see? Since the creation, we were made to be relational. We were made to be in a relationship with each other and with God our sustainer! But because of the fall, we left that true relationship, that which we needed the most. 


Full of sin, we walked in self-sufficiency, trying our best to be made right with God through our own works. But we never succeeded, for we all fell short. We were scarred. But thank our God for our Lord Jesus Christ, who took our sin away, and made us right before God, and so we can return to that relationship of healing. For sin corrupted the man, and distanced him from relationship, but Jesus Christ took that sin upon Himself and paid the price we so deserved. 


But now, we who are still alive have not become perfect, yet. We still struggle with sin, and we stumble from time to time. But we are called to remain in Him. To remain in the Vine! For we can do nothing if we do not remain in Him! For He is the One who fills us with living water! 


When we seek our own desires in this life, we become bitter, because we try to fix things up by ourselves. But when we seek the Lord and come before our Creator, we receive something only He can give, unfailing love. We all need His grace, and so once we come into His grace, we don?t need to measure up and try to fix everything ourselves. Apart from the Lord, we are fools. For from the Lord comes wisdom, love, honor, peace, goodness, and so much more. 


Proverbs 19:22 (NIV): 

What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. 


Proverbs 19:22 (NKJV): 

What is desired in a man is kindness, And a poor man is better than a liar. 

This kindness is only found in Jesus Christ and the brothers and sisters in your life whom Christ has worked through. 


Proverbs 18:10: 

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. 


1 Thessalonians 5:23 : 

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.