Thursday, May 20: Whose advice do you value?

Phillip Calvin McGraw sure does love to tell people what they should do with their lives. Better known as Dr. Phil, he makes an inordinate amount of money dispensing advice to a big variety of guests with a bigger variety of problems on his television show. His simple language and Southern drawl seem to convince his guests that he cares and never would mislead them. A song called “Wear Sunscreen” offers us this scintillating wisdom concerning advice:

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

Why are we so quick to listen to a man’s advice, and hesitant to listen to the advice that the Lord offers? His Word is filled with advice! If we follow His Word, our lives would be so much easier. Isaiah shared this passage with us:


“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD,
“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
That they may add sin to sin;
2 Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
Isaiah 30:1-3


Dr. Phil isn’t the first person to dispense advice that doesn’t involve Biblical truth. He is on a long list of psychologists, psychiatrists and psychobabblers who cannot share the truth if they don’t follow the truth. Jesus is the Truth and the only Way! It doesn’t matter if you believe in the power of positive thinking. Norman Vincent Peale was appalling in the same manner that Paul is appealing! If your advisor doesn’t follow Jesus, be very careful how closely you adhere to their advice. The answer isn’t blowing in the wind; it’s in the pages of God’s Word! Beware of the hot air of most dispensing advice!  Unless the advice is grounded in God's truth, it will lead you to Egypt!