“Common sense is derived from both intellectual ability and life experiences used together to make good judgements. You are born only with an ability to develop common sense. As life progresses, you learn more about the world and this gives you more insight into what makes sense and what potential solutions could be.” Copied from Internet That is pretty wordy explanation for the simple fact that common sense isn’t all that common any more. Common sense is a state of mind where when things don’t make sense, they are thrown away in favor of things that do work and work well. To me, common sense comes from knowing what is true and what is not. In today’s world, people spend more time being critical of the Word of God than reading it. If they do read the Bible it is the version that they like best.
Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”
The scripture tells us that wisdom, knowledge and understanding come from God. Since we have had God’s Word translated into English since 1611, something seems to be missing in our system. Over 400 years of knowing what God would have us know and practice is thrown out in favor of what feels good. It is folly to a man destitute of wisdom we are told.
Proverbs 15:21 “Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.”
Now scripture is pretty pointed when it comes to sin. It started in the Garden of Eden with a simple sly question. “Yea, hath God said?”
Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
Mankind fell that day for Eve didn’t have an answer that she was willing to stand on as truth. You see, God had told Adam, then Adam had instructed Eve. He added to what God had said voiding it in her mind. He told her, “neither shall you touch it”. Adding to or trying to “correct” the Word of God is never a good idea.
The day mankind fell into sin brings about a question all by itself. Who was the serpent and why did he want Eve to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Adam and Eve were living in a paradise, but paradise was all they knew. They had no knowledge of anything else. Their mind was innocent.
Romans 5:12-14 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”
So the scripture tells us that Adam knew better and did it anyway. He ate what Eve gave him. She was overawed with the knowledge she had gotten and convinced Adam to eat it.
Here is where common sense breaks down. We have thousands of year of history to look back on. We have had every pleasure explored to the point there are few secrets left in the physical world. Like Eve, when we find a guilty pleasure we want to share it with others. Why in the name of common sense do people do things that are proven to damage their body and mind? That leads us back to the serpent again. Why did he want to corrupt Adam and Eve? The simple answer is that he is the enemy of all righteousness.
Acts 13:10 “And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”
This was spoken by the Apostle Paul to a man named Elymas the sorcerer. He probably didn’t think he was as bad as what Paul called him, yet it is true. He probably thought of himself as protector of Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. Yet he was an unwitting tool of the devil, or the dragon or the serpent or Satan, or one of the other names attributed to him in scripture.
But why did this man try to hinder the mission of Paul as he preached Salvation to all that would listen? So now we come to a mystery that can easily be unravelled, yet hardly anyone tries to do it.
2Thessalonians 2:7 “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.”
“The mystery of iniquity- The deep, secret power of iniquity, just opposite to the power of godliness, already worketh. It began with the love of honour, and the desire of power; and is completed in the entire subversion of the gospel of Christ.” John Wesley Now back to common sense, please. If what you are doing harms the body or the mind, why are you doing it? It could be something physical or mental, but the question is why. The mystery of iniquity doth already work, but so does righteousness and holiness.
Righteousness and holiness does work. We have it recorded in history. Sinful behavior is also recorded in history.
And in a 1948 speech to the British House of Commons, Winston Churchill said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” He had taken the words of the philosopher George Santayana. It was a common sense statement.
What did Einstein say about insanity? “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Let me close with my original scripture: Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”
This method of living life is tried and true. The sins of the world are condemned and will have unintended consequences. It is like the drunk wanting to feel liberated from his problems, but the hangover the next morning makes him feel worse than he felt before. Like I said, common sense isn’t very common these days. We can have wisdom, knowledge and understanding or we can go through life trying “new” things. Please choose, common sense and read your Bible to gain wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
