Putting the I into WISDOM
The Christians who have most influenced me for good have had a fully functional familiarity with the book of Proverbs. They were (and are) able to take their considerable knowledge and apply it to their lives, providing both godly examples and godly advice. Join with me as each one of us endeavors to put the I into WISDOM. Let us seek to exemplify God’s wisdom in our daily lives. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We have been studying Proverbs 1:20-24, where wisdom is personified as a preacher pouring out godly advice. Unfortunately, as we saw yesterday, out of stubbornness we may directly refuse God’s good words (verse 24 – “refused”). Verse 24 also uses the word “regarded” to indicate that we can lack the awareness that God is speaking to us; the New Testament parallel is to be “dull of hearing” (Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27; Hebrews 5:11). Verse 25 adds “set at nought” (literally, to let go – that is, to neglect) and “would none of” (literally, to be unwilling, indicating an act of the will). In other words, we can find many excuses to avoid God’s “counsel” and “reproof.” To do so, of course, is unwise. Proverbs 3:11-12 (quoted in Hebrews 12:5-6) reminds us that God is good when He is reproving us; would we rather that He set us at nought – that is, just let us go on doing wrong things? God loves us too much to simply permit us to live comfortably evil and vile lives. He continues to communicate when we are “dull of hearing,” and He chastens us so that we will listen and obey. Lord, help us to heed the first time around.