Key verse: Proverbs 15:23
A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!
Read: 1 Kings 12:1-17
There is an African adage that implies an elder cannot be in the market for the head of the new born to be slanted. The place of elders is the place of experience. Being an elder may therefore not just be in age but mainly in experience. No wonder elders of Africa also say whoever you meet in the barn is the elder. The essence of being is love. For love to be total, everyone needs to ensure that those coming behind him do not make the same or similar mistakes to the ones he had made. The way to ensure this is in the multitude of counsel. God expects us to teach our offspring or those in our care from our experience. That was why He so testified of Abraham even while he was yet to have a child, that Abraham would teach his children and later generations of whatsoever he learnt of God.
It is a sin to know how to do good and refrain. The act of refusing to counsel others so that they don’t enter booby traps you have been through is a sin. Your being through it is God’s way of releasing experience to the world. Your hoarding the experience is allowing the wheel to be reinvented. It is one thing for you to give a counsel, it is another for the recipient to make use of it. Ask Rehoboam. He was Solomon’s son that took over from him. The elders gave him an advice in due season. He turned it down and followed the waywardness of the youth, his peers. He lost the authority to reign over all. The advice given in due season has the potential for progress. Don’t withhold it. When you are at crossroads not knowing what to do in any situation, you are not the first to follow that path! Therefore, seek the counsel of “elder” in the affairs and you will not regret it. Delay in seeking counsel may cause real daunting repercussion. The time you need the counsel is as the issue arises. That is why it is due season. Counsel given when the benefit is gone may be of no use anymore.
The best Elder to obtain counsel from is the Lord. He is the ancient of days. There is nothing hidden from Him. His counsel is sure. You cannot miss what you seek if you go by Him. From today, do ask of the Lord what you need to do before making a move. David was a great beneficiary of doing so. For every battle he confronted after having sought God’s counsel, he prevailed. Emulate that.
Pray: Father, I do not know how to proceed in the affairs of life. Please guide me through your word and I shall be careful to return all the glory to you. This I pray in Jesus name.
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