Skip to main content

The Wisdom Walk

I'm reading Proverbs 4 and 5 and some of the takeaway points were:
(1) learn about wisdom and instruction,
(2) let your whole body be in submission to wisdom, and
(3) embrace correction

Proverbs 4 implores us to get wisdom and understanding. We learn from this chapter that King Solomon's "father" taught Solomon the value of gaining wisdom and the dangers of ignoring it. (Proverbs 4:3-4) "Wisdom is the principal thing" which sets you up for promotion, honor, grace and glory. (Proverbs 4:7-9) If we want all of these good things, we need to be given wisdom and shown the right paths. We need to be teachable. Proverbs 4 is written in a dual way where it's implied that Solomon was taught by his father King David. We can also read Solomon's words and see him speaking metaphorically as a "father" to us. This writing style was oddly soothing because it helped me get past the thoughts of - well, what should people do if they don't have godly father in their life? The answer is, God's Word and God himself acts as our father. His book freely offers the knowledge of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. We can heed the advice, the promises and warnings, in Solomon's teachings to learn about wisdom.

The next important takeaway was to actually submit to wisdom. It's not enough to know the right things to do. We have to use our wisdom and force every part of us to act with wisdom. The end of Proverbs 4 portrays a beautiful visual of making sure that our whole body is submitting itself to wisdom.
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
These verses show us that we must train our ears, eyes, heart, flesh, mouth, hands, and feet to obey the wisdom that we have learned.

The final point that stood out was the importance of listening to and accepting godly reproof/correction. Proverbs 5 warns that ignoring instruction and not heeding advice that is meant to redirect your actions will lead you away from God and closer to pain and death. (Proverbs 5:7-13) We should not be afraid of being corrected by people with godly intentions towards us. Psalm 141:5 says, "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head..." More than once, Pastor has commented that correction is not the same as condemnation. Condemnation is an action that believes there's no hope for a person in the wrong. Correction is an action that sees potential greatness in that person and wants to point the person in the right direction. Proverbs 5 is an encouragement to have discretion, which means being able to distinguish between choices and make responsible decisions. Utilize the wise and godly people in your life to help you have discretion. Even though it may feel uncomfortable, be comfortable with allowing them to help you see your flaws because it will make you a wiser person and lead you closer to God.

Lord help us to embrace your instruction and not despise reproof. Let us be wise and use wisdom to live in ways that lead to a fuller-prosperous life, and most importantly lead us to God. Amen.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Insignificance: Parable of the Lost Son

Hello! Women's Prayer Call Series: Parable of the Lost Son Today I want to share my thoughts on the parable of the lost son which is found in Luke 15 verses 11 through 32. When I read through this parable last week, I felt led to talk about the struggle of feeling mentally lost and insignificant because of where you are right now - whatever those circumstances may be. I want you to look at this story and see how Jesus is telling us that God cares a lot about the wellbeing of each and every one of us. I want to encourage you to see how valuable you are to God right where you are. So you know where I’m going with this. Here’s a quick summary of the parable, and I think it’s a good idea to read it in the context of all of chapter 15. Jesus starts with a story of a man losing one of his sheep; he describes how the man leaves the other 99 sheep to go after the 1 that was lost. When the man finds the lost sheep, he puts the sheep on his shoulders, brings it home, and gathers his friends ...

Peter: The Zealous Teacher

While reading the Book of John, I became very curious about the ministry of Peter.  I plan to explore the other books of the Bible to learn about him and I am currently reading through Peter's letters. Similar to how I studied John, I will jot down some of my thoughts from the Books of Peter here. I'm finding these chapters interesting and full of good truths to ponder over. What strikes me is how it is plain to see how Jesus has taught Peter to be passionate about his commission and loving. This love is evident in the advice that Peter offers in his letters. Let's look at 1 Peter, chapter 1 together. 1 Peter 1 I thought about how Peter is talking to people exiled from their homeland and living in different places. It's interesting how he encourages them to behave in a new way - a way of holiness. To me, it would seem like the natural thing to tell a person living in a strange land is to either: (1) blend in to fit in with the people in their new surroundings; or (2) st...

A Hope for Something New

It's been a while since I last posted. Though I missed blogging and felt an internal pressure to write, I decided to not give in to my inner critic and took a break. I was still reading my Bible and finished reading Proverbs, however, my joy in getting up early in the morning waned. I am going to experiment with some other times in the day to see what will work for me now. Over the past year I have learned and accepted that I'm not a creature of habit. I love to hop around and multitask and dive into different projects. With this in mind, it kind of makes sense that my attempt at keeping to a regular schedule of getting up at 5 am would not last forever. 😂 Because of my struggle with this, my practice of writing down my thoughts and doing a deep dive to understand what I was reading slowly stopped. I missed the deep dive and I hope with recreating my schedule, I can do some more writing and then some more blogging. Anyone else have this same struggle with trying to stick to a ...