Good Advice

Good Advice

Deborah

Read: Judges 5:31

Brooke wished that she had picked a different booth to sit in. She couldn’t avoid overhearing the conversation going on next to her. A young woman barely out of her teens was telling a friend about her problems with her live-in boyfriend, who kept losing jobs because of his drug habit. He sometimes disappeared for days at a time with no explanation. The note of desperation in the woman’s voice touched Brooke as she asked her friend, “What do you think I should do?”

Brooke had to bite her lip when the woman’s friend replied, “Just follow whatever your heart tells you to do.”

When Deborah was Israel’s judge, she advised people to follow God rather than their hearts, which the Bible says are deceitful (see Jeremiah 17:9). Deborah took her role as the nation’s spiritual leader seriously and dedicated herself to instructing the people in God’s laws. As she sought God’s help in fulfilling her role, God granted her wisdom and insight to share with those seeking her counsel. Because Deborah depended on God for understanding in all matters and because she shared his Word rather than her own opinions, the nation of Israel enjoyed forty years of peace under her leadership.

We have plenty of sources for advice these days, such as newspaper columns, radio call-in programs, and talk shows. Unfortunately, most of these sources do not give counsel that aligns with God’s thinking. Whether we get advice from a friend or a professional counselor, we need to make sure that it doesn’t conflict with God’s Word. When friends come to us for counsel, we must tell them something more meaningful than “Just follow whatever your heart tells you to do.” If we devote ourselves to prayerful study of the Bible, we’ll be equipped to share wise advice—whether we’re sitting under a palm tree like Deborah or in a restaurant booth.

The godly give good advice to their friends.

Proverbs 12:26