9/15/2023 0 Comments Without vision the people perish![]() Jesus reiterated this to His disciples when He spoke the words of the Great Commission. Obeying every word of the Bible is at the heart of Christian discipleship. Blessed is the person who seeks to do all of God’s revealed will in all of God’s revealed ways. They perish! Without the Bible we are in trouble! Without the Bible, we do what we want rather than what God wants. What is God saying in this famously quoted Scripture? He declares that without the truth He has revealed to the prophets (what we now have as the Bible), the people cast off restraint. Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint but blessed is he who keeps the law. ![]() The NIV translates the Hebrew to that end: Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. In addition, if I had bothered to read the entire verse, the other half of the Proverb, I might have avoided abusing God’s Word. Ironically, I was misusing a Bible verse about the Bible. It is all about the truth He has revealed. This verse has nothing to do with leading a team, company, or church! This verse is all about God’s Word. He spoke to many of the Old Testament prophets in this way.” Let’s apply this basic understanding of “vision” to the text in Proverbs 29. I expect you would say, “Well, in these situations God was revealing truth to people, through a vision or a dream. If someone were to ask you, “I have been reading the Old Testament, and I keep finding this word “vision.” It says that this person had a vision. Put this particular verse aside for a moment. The text hinges on the word “vision.” The Proverbs are given to us in the larger context of the Old Testament. I had a message I wanted to give and I used the Bible to suit my purposes. So what’s the problem? I interpreted the Word of God with 21 st century business principles, rather than allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. My guess is you have walked through a similar process. If there is no vision, if our church doesn’t have a mission statement, if your corporation doesn’t have a vision statement, all the people on your team, in your company, at your church, and in your small group – they are in trouble! My eloquent challenge would then catapult us into the vision-casting portion of our meeting. Vision! As leaders, we need to have a plan. I would often use this text in the context of leadership meetings. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Here is a text which I misused many times. I am particularly burdened if I ripped a text of Scripture out of its context and used it to preach my thoughts, rather than God’s thoughts. As a pastor (and I hate to admit this), I sometimes cringe when I look back at sermons I have preached.
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