Don’t Isolate

Let’s start in Proverbs 18 by reading the first three verses:

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.

I’d like to focus in on verses 1-2.  Isolation is not usually a good thing…that is unless you have a contagious disease and then it’s a good thing for everyone else!  The bible is full of exhortation to do life and to spend time with other people. There are more than 50 exhortations in the New Testament alone to do things with “one another”…pray for one another, exhort one another, serve one another, love one another…and the list goes on and on.  God knows that when we isolate ourselves we are setting ourselves up for trouble.

Here we read that a man who isolates himself seeks his own desire, which can lead to opposition to wise judgment.  We all need the opinions and wisdom of other people to keep us balanced.  Verse 2 describes the natural tendency of isolation; that is we become our own experts in all things.  We gravitate to the point where we begin to feel like we know it all.

If you are in a period of isolation right now, seek out “new life forms” as the old Star Trek introduction used to say…I don’t suggest getting on a spaceship and travelling to other galaxies…just find ordinary human beings that you can share life with.  You will be glad that you did.

In wisdom,
Eric