August 2, 2026 - Think Before You Act (Proverbs 19:2 - John Shearhart)

Jul 29, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Molasses Floods and Twisted Desires

When unchecked desires override wisdom, destruction follows like a 15-foot wave of sticky ruin. The story of the 1919 Boston molasses disaster illustrates how cutting corners for immediate gain leads to catastrophic consequences. Just as the tank’s thin walls couldn’t contain greed’s pressure, our hearts leak chaos when desires rule unchecked. God designed desires to point us toward good, but sin twists them into cravings that drown others—and ourselves—in collateral damage. True stewardship starts by asking what hunger our desires truly reveal. [40:31]

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15, NIV)

Reflection: What desire have you rushed to fulfill without considering its ripple effects? How might pausing to name that hunger shift your next step?

Day 2: Painting Over Leaks With God’s Color

Hiding brokenness, like painting a faulty tank to match its leaks, only delays disaster. The company’s cover-up ignored the tank’s structural flaws, just as we mask heart-issues with busyness or excuses. Wisdom invites raw honesty: God’s light exposes cracks not to shame, but to rebuild with grace. When we stop camouflaging our struggles, His repair work fills gaps with lasting peace. [41:50]

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you “painted over” a recurring struggle instead of inviting Christ’s renovation? What one step could expose that area to His healing light?

Day 3: Jephthah’s Vow and Hasty Promises

Rash words spoken in desperation—like Jephthah’s vow to sacrifice whatever greeted him—chain us to outcomes God never intended. Haste ignores the cost others will pay for our impulsivity. Wisdom weighs words, knowing every “yes” shapes tomorrow’s relationships. Slowing down lets grace untangle us from vows made in fear’s heat. [58:33]

“When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4, NIV)

Reflection: What impulsive promise or decision still weighs on you? How might God’s mercy free you to respond differently next time?

Day 4: Stewardship in Open Hands

Everything we call “mine”—from homes to children to paychecks—is borrowed from the One who entrusts it. The molasses tank’s managers hoarded resources, but wisdom holds blessings loosely, like a neighbor sharing syrup from a leaky barrel. True ownership dies when we see our lives as divine loans to invest, not trophies to protect. [35:23]

“Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children… This will show your wisdom… to the nations.” (Deuteronomy 4:40,6, NIV)

Reflection: What possession or relationship do you clutch too tightly? How would holding it open-handed change your prayers this week?

Day 5: Christ’s Crossroads in Every Choice

At every decision’s fork—career shifts, relational tensions, secret battles—Jesus waits as both compass and companion. Colossians calls Him the “treasure of wisdom,” not a rulebook but a Person who walks choices with us. Like the molasses flood’s survivors, we find rescue not in perfect plans, but in the One who entered our mess to rebuild hope. [01:06:50]

“In Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” (Colossians 2:3, ESV)

Reflection: What current crossroads makes you crave certainty? How might trusting Christ’s presence—not just His plan—steady your heart today?

Sermon Summary

Proverbs 24 gives the picture of a house built by wisdom and filled with precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 19:2 brings one of those riches into the room: the comfort, peace, and stability that come from wise decisions. The proverb says, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” Desire itself is not treated like the problem. Desire without knowledge is the problem, because a good hunger can get twisted, hurried, and aimed in the wrong direction.

The fear of the Lord stands at the beginning of knowledge, so decisions are not just practical matters. God puts his wisdom on display through the way his people live. Deuteronomy 4 shows Israel receiving God’s law so the nations would say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Jesus says the same kind of thing in Matthew 5: good works shine before others so the Father in heaven gets glory. Every decision becomes stewardship, because breath, time, family, money, houses, cars, and daily responsibilities all belong to God and sit in human hands for a little while.

Desire needs to be informed through knowledge. God made desire good, like hunger, marriage, comfort, and peace, but sin twists those desires. The serpent did not create anything new in the garden. He twisted what God had made, until Eve saw the fruit as pleasing and good for knowledge. James gives the warning plainly: desire lures and entices, then conceives sin, and sin brings death. The great molasses flood becomes a picture of what desire without knowledge can do: a company wanted money, hurried the work, ignored wisdom, painted over the leaks, and destruction finally came.

Haste needs to slow down and think. The one who makes haste with his feet “misses his way,” and that language carries the idea of missing the mark. Jephthah’s hasty vow in Judges shows the darkness that comes when every man does what is right in his own eyes. Quick words, rash posts, foolish purchases, bad dating choices, angry comebacks, and careless vows may not look like a molasses flood, but they still leave wreckage.

Christ stands as the true wisdom of God. All have already missed the mark, and the wages of sin is death, but God placed sin on his Son and gives Christ’s righteousness to those who trust him. In Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom asks three honest questions: What is the desire? What has God said about it? Where will it lead if it is followed?

Key Takeaways

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• Haste can miss the mark
Hurry becomes dangerous when action outruns wisdom. A quick step may feel decisive, but Proverbs says it can actually move a person off the path and into sin. Patience is not passivity here, it is self-control that gives knowledge time to speak before the feet start moving.

• Small leaks warn of collapse
The molasses tank did not fail without warning. The leaks were visible, but the company painted over them because desire for gain had already taken charge. A life can do the same thing when warning signs, red flags, and conscience are covered instead of faced before God.

• Decisions display God’s wisdom
God’s people do not make choices in a private little vacuum. Deuteronomy 4 and Matthew 5 both show that obedience makes God’s wisdom visible to watching people. Stewardship means that time, money, speech, relationships, and opportunities are handled as things entrusted by God, not owned outright.

• Christ holds wisdom’s treasures
The gospel does not merely forgive bad decisions and then leave a person alone. Christ bears guilt, gives righteousness, and becomes the place where “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are found. A person seeking wisdom starts with trust in him, because the deepest problem is not lack of technique but a heart that has missed the mark before God. [35:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[26:46] - Wisdom Builds the House
[27:59] - Proverbs 19:2 Introduced
[30:11] - Decisions Put God’s Wisdom on Display
[31:48] - Israel’s Wisdom Before the Nations
[33:39] - Good Works Give Glory to God
[35:51] - Inform Desire Through Knowledge
[36:40] - Desire Twisted in the Garden
[38:44] - The Great Molasses Flood
[47:55] - James Warns About Enticing Desire
[53:47] - Slow Down and Think
[57:56] - Jephthah’s Hasty Vow
[61:56] - Questions for Big Decisions
[64:01] - Missing the Mark and the Gospel
[67:49] - Three Questions for Wise Choices

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Proverbs 19:2
“Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” [26:22]

Proverbs 24:3-4
“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” [26:46]

Deuteronomy 4:6-7
“Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?” [31:48]

Matthew 5:16
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” [33:39]

James 1:14-15
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” [47:55]

Observation questions

In Proverbs 19:2, what two dangers are named, and what does each one lead to?
According to Proverbs 24:3-4, what builds and establishes a house, and what fills its rooms?
In Deuteronomy 4:6-7 and Matthew 5:16, what are other people supposed to notice when God’s people live wisely? [33:39]
What were some of the warning signs in the molasses tank story that showed something was badly wrong before the collapse came? [41:23]

Interpretation questions

Proverbs 19:2 does not say that desire is bad, but that desire without knowledge is not good. What does that suggest about the right place of desire in the Christian life? [36:05]
If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, why are everyday choices like speech, spending, dating, and conflict more than just practical matters? [31:21]
James 1:14-15 describes desire luring, conceiving, and then bringing forth death. How does that help explain why small compromises can become much bigger sins over time? [48:06]
The one who makes haste with his feet “misses his way.” How does that connect quick decisions with sin, not just with inconvenience or embarrassment? [57:12]

Application questions

What is one desire in life right now that needs to be examined more carefully? Is it a desire for comfort, control, money, romance, peace, recognition, or something else? [01:07:56]
Before acting on that desire, what has God said about it? Where in Scripture might help be found, and who could help think that through well? [50:03]
Where is there a tendency to move too fast right now—an argument, a purchase, a relationship, a job decision, a post online, or something else? What would it look like to slow down before taking the next step? [53:47]
Small leaks often show up before bigger damage comes. Are there any warning signs being painted over right now instead of being faced honestly before God? [41:50]
Decisions put God’s wisdom on display. In what area of life would wiser choices make Christ look beautiful to other people who are watching? [30:11]
When anger, hurt, or frustration rises, what usually happens first: prayer, pause, counsel, or reaction? What would help create more space between the feeling and the response? [01:00:25]
Christ bears guilt for every foolish and hasty step, and in him are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Where is there a need not only for better decision-making, but also for fresh trust in his forgiveness and wisdom today? [01:05:34]

Sermon Clips

40s

#TrustGodsTiming

“Wisdom says, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna seek God's wisdom before acting on what I need. I'm going to fill my head with knowledge because the things I do put his wisdom on display. I'm gonna control my feet through patience and slowness. Because when I'm diligent that way, it puts God's wisdom on display. Do you have that faith? Can you trust God? Can you say, God knows what's good for me, I'm gonna trust in him. God knows what's good for me. I'm gonna trust his timing and to just wait.”

49s

#LiveAsSteward

“Do you remember the differences that you've had in your life? What I what I want you to realize is that every day of your life and every decision that you make is an opportunity for you to bring glory to God. Every day of your life and every decision that you make is an opportunity for you to bring glory to God because we realize not even the breath in my lungs comes from me. God gives me that. God gives me the time that I have and he puts things in my hands as a resource. That's why we say we wanna live open handed because I realize that everything that I have, my vehicle, my house, all the food that I have, even my family, everything that I have belongs to God. Everything belongs to him and he's entrusted it to me as a steward to use it wisely because it brings him glory.”

69s

#GraceThroughChrist

“Okay. God said that. I believe that. But you know what else God said? God doesn't want us to pay for our own sins. God doesn't want it to end that way. So knowledge tells me that God loved me so much that he sent his son to die in my place. That the the punishment that I had to suffer because I had committed sin, God said, I'm gonna put my son in your place and I'm gonna pour out all my punishment on him. And if you will trust him, if you will commit, you say, I'm gonna live my life for you and I trust what you say, I'll take all of your sins and put them on him and I'll take all of his righteousness, his goodness, and I'll put it on you. And through that, he bore our guilt. Every bad decision we've ever made, every time we've taken a hasty step, all of it was put on him so that we can be completely cleansed and forgiven. So that when we're standing in front of God, we hear well done, good and faithful servant because he's talking about the righteousness of Christ on us and the work that we have done because of it.”

59s

#FeastOnTheWord

“When God wants us to be full of his knowledge, he wants us to take time and get into his word and to really know what he has to say. You have to get to a place. You don't wanna just fill your head with knowledge. Right? Because that's the Pharisees did that. The the religious people at the time of Jesus, they were legalists. They were not gracious at all. They were full of bitterness and resentment, but they were really careful to follow it out, you know, and stick to the law. That came because they filled their head with knowledge but it didn't affect their hearts. We're talking about the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So my heart is already bent towards worship, towards God. I want to please him. Now, how do I do that? Now, you fill your head with knowledge. Now, you take that time and you go, okay God, I wanna know. Show me. And I'm gonna read, and I'm gonna read, and I'm gonna read, and it's gonna become a daily part of my life. Just as much as eating food, I'm gonna feast on the word of God.”

50s

#CommitToJesus

“After Jesus died, he was risen from the dead. He came back from the dead, and now he gives us that wisdom himself. Did you know the book of Colossians says that in Jesus are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge? In Jesus are hidden all of the hidden treasures and wisdom of wisdom and knowledge. And so you confess him. If you do that, if you if you're sitting there today and you say, okay. Wanna do this. I wanna commit my life to Christ. I want to trust in him so that he can give me this this stuff that we're talking about today. You can just start right there where you are in your seat. You can just say, Jesus, I wanna serve you. Jesus, I wanna follow you. I wanna give my life to you. Will you help me?”

39s

#GuardYourDesires

“wouldn't that be nice? And now you're entertaining that idea. You're you're thinking about it in your heart. You're you're accepting it and going, this would be good. It doesn't matter what God says, this is really what I want to do. When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. It brings forth death when we don't think about God, and we don't think about his goodness, and his righteousness, and his wisdom. When we just make decisions without thinking about his wisdom, We're inviting catastrophe into our lives.”

40s

#LearnFromGodsPeople

“So we have our heart right, we find it in the word, we listen to the spirit, and then we learn from other people. These are God's people. And all of us have different experiences. All of us together have a lot of experiences that show how the bible can be lived out. And so we we take the time. We say, okay, God, I want you to rule in my life. I'm gonna find your word. I'm gonna listen to your spirit. I'm gonna hear your people. I'm gonna spend time with your people because I wanna know who you are and what you want. Get knowledge. Get knowledge, and then you can inform your heart, and you will have the good in your life.”

55s

#AskGodFirst

“``And then here's the second question. What has God said about it? What has God said about it? Not just how is it sin, but what has God said about it? If you're really struggling with peace and you want that, did you know that you can have the peace of God that passes all understanding? God can give that to you. That's what he says about it, that he is the God of peace. He is the God of comfort. He is the god above all gods who can meet all of our needs. And so we wanna ask ourselves, what is it that I desire and what has god said about it? And then finally, where will it take me if I follow it? Where is this gonna take me so that if your desire is sinful and you can say, well, if I start doing this and I keep doing this, this is where it's gonna lead. I don't wanna go down that road. That is the wisdom of God being applied to your life.”

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Genesis Boyne (Genesis Church Boyne City) This sermon · AI assistant

How do my decisions display God's wisdom publicly?

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