He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. Proverbs 15:31-32

If you want to be wise, you will have to learn the value of reproof and rebuke. That is a tough thing to do because very few of us take to these things at all. We are fallen creatures therefore a couple things are true of us. First of all, we usually think we are right. This creates a problem because we react with pride and defensiveness when we are rebuked and reproved. Second of all, we are rebellious. Therefore when someone offers correction our first response is to resist and resent it. But as we will see from today's proverb of the day, these things can really hurt us.

We dwell among the wise when our ear is open to "life-giving reproof." I am so glad that when God inspired this He made a distinction between life-giving reproof and other kinds of reproof. The difference between these two is that life-giving reproof is correction that is bent toward blessing us and offering us rebuke that will turn us away from sin and turn us to God who gives us life. To be reproved in this way turns us from our own way, the way of the world, and the way of destruction - which is how the devil will seek to offer us. Thus it turns us away from death and sin, and instead points us into the way of life - or said another way - into the ways of God. Regular reproof is correction based out of an idividual's preferences. Jesus was reproved . . . often. He faced Pharisees who rebuked Him for His teaching, His miracles, and the people He chose to hang around. People will reprove you for walking in the ways of God. This kind of reproof requires both understanding and discernment on our part. Just because someone reproves you, does not mean that they are correct in their reproof. That is why Solomon warns us only to open our ear to "life-giving" reproof.

We read in verse 32 of a person who neglects discipline. The word discipline means instruction that offers truth and a disciplinary rebuke or correction. Godly men and women offer discipline to us to bless us in the end. But the unwise man rejects it outright. When he does this Scripture tells us that he "despises himself." He hates himself when he does these things. The rejection of all discipline and moral limits will destroy our lives. You can easily see in a child who is a spoiled brat this danger. The child gets his own way - and is not corrected so as to learn wise and godly behavior. In the end this child will destroy himself with their selfishness and self-centered behavior.

The one who listens to godly reproof will aquire "understanding." The word here refers to the heart - or the inner moral life and compass that we need to have. When we listen to reproof and learn from it - our inner moral compass is set by God's standards. We learn right and wrong. We may simply respond to discipline by avoiding the pain of it at first. This is the response of a child who is spanked early on in life. The initially avoid the behaviors to avoid pain. But after a while the child, if trained properly, is also learning "why" they are not to do something. The process teaches understanding. The child learns from the wisdom of the parent that there are reasons to avoid the moral bahavior. This understanding will guide them and teach them that when discpline comes - it is from love that people offer it. When followed such wisdom will truly bless any man or woman who will take the time - and often the pain that rebuke often brings - to learn from it.

He who profits illicitly troubles his own house, But he who hates bribes will live.   Proverbs 15:27

Ours is a society that is quickly becoming corrupt at multiple levels.  It has been sad to watch our country turn from one that valued integrity and honesty, to one that is moving toward the kind of values that exist in a banana republic.  The frequency of elected officials being charged and convicted with fraud is alarming.  The fact that we watch them use their positions of power to enrich themselves with laws they impose on us, while exempting themselves from their own statutes is terrifying.  That is because, as we will learn from today's proverb, those who do such things bring trouble to their own home.  This is true on a personal level, but also on a corporate and even national level too. 

We read that those who profit illicitly trouble their own house.  This simply means that when we choose to leave our integrity at the altar of greed and the pursuit of wealth at any cost, we are going to create serious problems for our family.  This is for several reasons.  First and most importantly is the trouble that is caused for our children and our grandchildren - even to the third and fourth generations of our family.  They watch as we abandon God and embrace the pursuit of riches.  Paul wrote young Timothy and warned that the love of riches is a root of all kinds of evil.  He warns him in the book of 1 Timothy that some who have done this bring harm to themselves and pierce themselves with many a harmful desire.  This will infect our families to several generations. 

We see this in our current immoral business climate in the United States banking and financial sectors.  Hardly a day goes by now without learning about another failure to preserve any moral foundation - as the generation that watched their parents make money and financial security their only goal now take those lessons to new lows.  They are now grabbing all the money they can - in any way that they can - regardless of who is hurt and what businesses are destroyed in the process.  The courts are now filled with men who set up ponzy schemes and who criminally mismanaged funds.  We are learning that raw greed motivated them to steal money that was not theirs.  Oh, and before we get too far away from our proverb, has brought great shame and trouble to their wives, children, and posterity even into the future. 

We are given a protective against this in the second part of this proverb.  The one who hates bribes will live.  He will be protected against the devastating effects of greed.  Bribes blind those who receive them.  They are unable to see the truth because they are focused on easy money that is put in front of them.  The bribe can be anything from the cash handed to a politician to look the other way of pass legislation that gives unfair advantages to certain businesses or groups - to the more subtle bribe that encourages someone to cut corners and cook books to cover their own greed for money.  No matter how the bribe presents itself it is lying to us.  It promises easy money, quick wealth, a way to get whatever we want without hard work and sacrifice.  But the bribe lies to us - not telling us of the pitfalls and dangers that are inherent in living for the world and the flesh.  These two foes of our spiritual growth and maturity are truly deadly - and can not just polute our spirits - but those of many future generations of our family.  That is why we need to protect ourselves from "every kind of greed," as our Lord warns.  For the truth is that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.  Life comes as we learn to submit every area of our lives to the Lord for Him to use for His glory.  So the next time you are offered a bribe to lay aside biblical principles and values - see it for the dangerous thing it is.  Reject it and turn to the Lord for strength to be content with what you have.  That is the path to life!

The path of life leads upward for the wise That he may keep away from Sheol below. Proverbs 15:24

The wise will have an upward bound life. That is what this passage tells us. It promises both an encouragement for the wise - that their path will lead upward. It also gives a warning - that the unwise path will end in Sheol, the place of the dead.

In His commentary on this verse Phillips makes the comment, "Darwin would have us believe that our feet are set surely on the upward way, that may is progressing by slow but sure degrees from protoplasm to paradise." This is the belief of those who account randomness and no purpose whatsoever for our existance and our origin. Unfortunately, both science and sociology tell us a much different story. They tell us a story consistent with the Biblical narrative.

Science reminds us through the second law of thermodynamics that we are in a constant state of decay. Things are not coming together into more order and more stability - they are moving from order to disorder. We look at the astounding complexity of life and see that it screams to us of an intelligent design infinitely higher than that of man. Science also tells us that something is wrong with this world. Things keep dying. It is as is this world has been cursed so that what originally was made - is now devolving into greater and greater chaos. Disease, sickness, pain, and suffering are the norm as we grow older individually - as well as our world grows older corporately.

Social Sciences also do not point in a direction that is good. The history of man is not a history of us getting wiser and wiser. It is not a history of mankind embracing new heights of goodness and mercy. On the contrary, the 20th and 21st centuries have witnessed a cruelty and evil that almost cannot be matched by previous generations. The endless wars and evils of our generation strike us in ways that at times takes the breath away. More people have been brutally murdered and systematically executed than ever before. We've found modern ways to exterminate our children, killing over 250 million of them since the inception of that horrific procedure. We call it population control - God calls it genocide of the innocents. The way of the fool leads to the place of death - that is what we know from experience. The way of the fool leads to pride and arrogance as he says there is no God.

The path of life goes upward for the wise man. He sees things as God sees them. He is blessed no matter what situations and privations await him in life. He knows that this life is not all that there is. In fact the Scriptures teach him that this life is just a fleeting breath. He is like a brief puff of wind that rustles the leaves and he is gone. Therefore he lives for God's will rather than his own lusts. Amazingly, this kind of choice fills him with joy - no matter what he faces in life. For him the worst he will ever face is in this life. He knows that things lead upward for him - until the day that he will embrace eternal life in all its fullness. He tastes it now, finding it sweet and delightful to his soul's palette. But how he yearns for the full meal. This grants him the joys of knowing life and of sterring clear from spiritual death and its ultimate companion, hell.

Things on this earth are not getting better and better. They were ruined by the entrance of sin brought on by man's rebellion and disobedience. Things are falling apart on this earth and will continue to do so until the day God brings an end to this fallen existance. Living for only here and now is therefore the utmost foolishness. The wise man knows this, because he knows God. The wise man therefore lives for eternal things. He lives because of His Creator's mercy in providing salvation through Jesus Christ. He also lives FOR His Creator and Lord - knowing that this is the pathway that leads upward - path this cursed ground - into the very presence of God in glory. Oh, precious ones - take this path!

In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12:28

Can there be a path where there is no death? How can Solomon say that wisdom means that there is a way of walking that does not have death on it? Death comes to all men. So what do we have here - a contradiction in the Scriptures?

There are those who try to find contradictions in the Bible - who can find tons of them. Their problem is that they do not allow for poetic license by the writers of Scripture. Of course these are the same people who do not expect others to take them literally all the time in their lives. When they say that they could kill someone for what they said - they do not expect the hearers to immediately alert the police about their murderous intentions. We all use these kind of expressions almost every day. It is only those who WANT to find problems in the Scripture that try to expose what is clearly poetic language.

What seems to be a contradiction here is actually understood when understanding this passage in the context of the whole counsel of Scripture. You see the Bible speaks of righteousness in a way that we do not normally conceive. It speaks of "absolute" righteousness in reference to God's righteousness. The "way of rightreousness" therefore is not a works thing, it is a faith thing. The righteous man lives by faith. This means that he receives righteousness as a gift - and the gift comes from God Himself. Therefore the way of righteousness is a lifestyle that looks to God for justification. In the way of righteousness is life. We experience life when we turn to Him and receive the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ on the basis of faith (see Romans 3:21-26).

In the pathway of this righteousness there is no death. This is not saying that people will not die physically. If you understand both Testaments of the Bible you know that there is more than one kind of death mentioned. There is physical death which is experienced by all men. There is also spiritual death - which is the common condition of all mankind. They are alive physically, but dead spiritually. The Bible refers to the second death in Revelation. This is what will happen to all those whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life. They will be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the age - where they will die forever.

When we look at the whole counsel of God's Word, this passage not only makes perfect sense - but is even a declaration of the gospel itself. There IS indeed a "way of righteousness" that we can experience - through faith in Jesus Christ. It is THE ULTIMATE way of righteousness - and more than that - it is the ONLY way of righteousness. When we walk in that way - living by faith - there is no death in that way. We may die physically (which the Bible refers to as "falling asleep") but death will be swallowed by life - and life eternally. That is the truth of the gospel. It is not a contradiction - it is a glorious revelation!

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.   Proverbs 11:30

It is interesting that long before we knew what it meant to be a "soul-winner," God blessed those who brought others to Christ.  He spoke of the wisdom of taking God's message of redemption to others.  There is so much imagery in this proverb that it is difficult to take it all in unless you step back and see each picture. 

The first picture we see is that of the "tree of life."  The fruit of the righteous one is a tree of life.  What is amazing here is that the tree of life is seen very early in Scripture.  The tree of life is in the garden of Eden - but is overshadowed by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because of the first couple's sin.  The tree of life is seen again at the end of Scripture in heaven where its leaves provide healing for the nations.  I believe that the tree of life is a type of Christ.  The only place the righteous can become righteous is in partaking of that tree - partaking of the righteousness of Christ.  So, it should not be shocking to learn that the fruit of the righteous is the very life of Christ.  It is that tree that brings life. 

When the righteous partakes of the life of Christ consistently - they will seek to give that life to others.  That is why we read the second half of this verse and do not find it at all odd that the wise man wins souls.  This was why Jesus, the original tree of life , came to earth in the first place - to seek and to save that which was lost.  When His life is moving through a man or woman - they will seek to win souls.  Consider Jesus' first call to His disciples, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 

Wisdom is doing all that we can as we live our lives to see men and women come to Christ.  Wisdom is so partaking of Christ, the tree of life, that our fruit is apparent.  When we do not grasp this - when we do not realize that God's ultimate act was to give His Son for the sin of mankind - we miss that it is wisdom's greatest passion to see the love of God passed on to those who desperately need it.  Truly, saints, if we are wise - if we have the fruit of Christ Himself flowing from our lives - we will take the gospel to those who are dead in sin.  When we do, we will watch once again our Lord be the Tree of life - and bring the very life of God to those whose soul's we win!

The fear of the Lord prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.   Proverbs 10:27

Among the things that help people have a long life, my guess is that fearing God is not listed very often, yet that is what we learn today from our proverb of the day.  The fear of the Lord prolongs life is what we are told by Solomon.  This means that we have great respect and honor for God Himself and for His Word.  Therefore this man chooses to obey God and do what His Word says.  If we only looked at this from a medical perspective, it is true.  The Old Testament dietary and cleanliness commands present the healthiest way to live possible.  These laws protected the people of Israel from disease and from a host of illnesses that are related to how people eat.  They also protected them by keeping them from a myriad of bacterial, viral, and commuicable diseases.  They were not just advanced for their day, they were advanced even for our day.  We continue to learn of the wisdom of God through these dietary and public health guidelines.  If one were simply to follow these commands, they would be blessed with a long life.  They would also not have the usual diseases that shorten life for many in today's world.

The opposite is also stated here - that the wicked will have their years shortened.  Again, as was said earlier, there are a number of diseases that an ungodly way of life brings.  Abuses in how one eats, drinks, and lives sexually - will greatly shorten someone's life.  There are also studies that have looked at how a peaceful heart also will lengthen a person's life.  When stress levels are high - all kinds of problems develop both physically and mentally.  Some, who otherwise would have lived long lives, did not because of what excessive stress did to them.  Of all the areas where these truths apply, our choices in sexuality are the clearest ones of all.  When a wicked person ignores God's call to abstinence before marriage and faithfulness in a monogamous, heterosexual marriage, there are multiple problems that develop.  First there are sexually transmitted diseases.  These abound in a sexually promiscuous society.  They shorten lives of millions - and also greatly reduce the quality of a person's life as well.  When we factor in the diseases that are rampant in the homosexual community we see that ignoring God and not fearing and respecting His Word shortens the lives of too many.

Let me close by dispelling a bad attitude some have toward the whole idea of fearing God.  The reason so many do not like this idea is because they treasure their own independence from God.  They do not want to have an all powerful, all wise God who knows the truth and tells us what it is.  But the reason we should fear God is BECAUSE He knows the truth.  When He tells us  something and warns us of adverse consequences - He is right.  These things WILL HAPPEN to us - and will cause untold grief and, in the case of today's proverb, sometimes even early death.

He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who ignores reproof goes astray.   Proverbs 10:17

If we are wanting to be blessed in life - we are going to have to embrace two things.  These things are the ability to be taught or instructed, and the ability to have someone correct or reprove us. 

This proverb puts it right out there for us - the path of life is wide open for the one who heeds instruction.  This means we need to be teachable!  Note it is not just the ability to hear someone - but we learn to heed what they say.  The word instruction is important for us to grasp here.  The word means to be instructed and disciplined.  The primary instruction that it speaks of in Scripture is that of a father.  When we learn to be instructed and disciplined by our fathers - it carries over into all of life later.  There is a general ability to receive instruction in general.  The other major figure who instructs in this way is God.  Therefore - if we struggle being instructed by our fathers - it should not shock us when later in life we are unteachable - not only by others - but even by God Himself.  Remember this . . . how we deal with dear ole dad - is a precursor to how we will one day be able to deal with God or anyone else.  Rebel against dad - it is more likely that you will rebel against others and God. 

The second half of this proverb tells us that when we ignore reproof - we will go astray.  The word "ignores" is the Hebrew word "azab" which means to forsake, abandon, or leave something.  The idea is that of walking away - and not caring about someone.  The word is used of those who forsake their wives - of those who abandoned their cities in a time of battle - and of those who forsake God.  Reproof here speaks of someone giving us a rebuke, correction, or an argument that shows us where we have erred.  The erring here is when someone forsakes the warning of God and goes their own way.  They may listen - but they reject what is said - the reject the rebuke or correction.  The end though is that they reject what is said and continue in the way that they want.  We are warned that such choices will lead us away from God.  We will make mistakes when we live like this - with an unteachable and unrebukable spirit.

None of us are born as unquestionable genius' who do not need instruction or correction.  We all make mistakes and err in our thinking.  That is why it is a blessing to have those who love us enough to offer correction and godly training.  They become a source of protection and life to us.  But if we never learn to accept such teaching and correction - we will ensure that we are on a path that will fail in the end.  Therefore - listen!  But there is more to this than listening alone - there is the need to hear with understanding and with a heart that embraces change.  This, dear saints, is wisdom.

“For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.“  Proverbs 8:35

Wisdom is the One we should seek in life.  It is not just information - but a person.  God wants us to have a relationship with Him - not just a reading habit with a book.  Wisdom calls us to know God - to find life by knowing God - and to obtain favor from Him.  Oh, how we need to see that what we are being called to by Wisdom is a relationship with Almighty God.  This is not merely religion - nor is it s body of material that we are to learn - like Biology or Physics.  This is the living God calling us into relationship with Himself.  It is God telling us the way of life and the way of obtaining His favor.  The idea of favor is one that overflows with the idea of relationship.  We obtain favor - so that we can grow in intimacy. 

More amazing to me is what I read in 1 Corinthians chapter one.   I read that God has made Someone Wisdom unto me.  Not just wisdom - but also sanctification and redemption.  The One Who is all these things to me . . . Jesus Christ.  Thus we have a call both in 1 Corinthians 1 and in Proverbs 8 that knowing wisdom is knowing Christ - for a truly wise man will turn to Jesus Christ.  We find that when we do this - when we embrace God's wisdom - we will also embrace the life and favor that God offers to us through the gospel. 

If you will - let me connect a few dots - and maybe answer a few questions as well.  What we have seen in Proverbs 8 is that God made wisdom - so that He could communicate Himself to us.  Then God embarked on creating this world that we see.  What Proverbs 8 has shown us again and again is that God's wisdom is in perfect sync with what we actually see in biblical creation.  Wisdom reminds us numerous times that this world did not evolve into higher and higher organisms - culminating in man - and with promise of even a more wonderful evolution into something higher than man.  God spoke this world into existence by the power of His Word.  Thus, what we see is that the heavens (if seen in a biblical worldview) are declaring the glory of God.  The earth and all its works are also resounding with praise for their Creator.  Men, though, deafen themselves to this glorious song by providing themselves with pseudo-scientific myths about a creation making itself.  If we would listen to wisdom - we would find life - and come to a place where we have favor with God.  Now, let me start connecting dots.  Wisdom is manifest by the glories of God seen in creation.  If we would listen to creation and hear her song correctly - creation would point us to the creator - God.  If we would follow this path - we would come to the Word of God to learn more about God.  More wisdom would be given to us - eventually pointing us to the reason God gave His Word - to reveal what He has done to provide salvation through Jesus Christ - to His own glory.  Wisdom would then even further counsel us to repent and believe - putting our faith in Jesus Christ - who was crucified for our sins - Who died, and Who resurrected the third day - all to pay for our sins and offer a way for us to be made right with God.  Thus, in the end, we would find wisdom speaking through creation to lead us to Christ - so that we might be declared righteous through faith.  This would then give us favor with God and life when we would be born again through Jesus Christ.

I have some who ask me about the heathen who do not have a testimony of God - or who do not hear the gospel.  Would God send them to hell and judge them - even if they have not heard.  The problem is not with God - but with the fallacy of the question.  They have heard!  Wisdom shouts out about Who God is through creation.  Every day and night the heavens and the earth are declaring to us a message about a glorious God.  But men reject that message.  Romans 1:18-23 says, " For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,  because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools,  and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures."

Here is Proverbs 8 right before our eyes.  God is speaking within men by conscience - and all around men by His creation.  God's invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature have been CLEARLY SEEN through creation itself.  When men reject the wisdom that is available to them through creation - they have no excuse before God.  They choose to ignore the wisdom of God - and instead choose not to honor God as God - they choose not to give thanks to God.  They choose instead to make gods for themselves - either in their own image - or by making God a bird, or some other kind of animal.  They even say God is a bug of some sort.  Having rejected God's wisdom - and His very person - they have made a much more manageable god - one they can control - and one who will be far more understanding of their wickedness and sin.  Thus they are under God's wrath.  They rejected wisdom - thus they reject the revelation of God in nature.  This rejection therefore leads them to making their own god - and rejecting the true and living God.  What we have in Romans 1 is a re-write of Proverbs 8.  What we need to do in response is to return to the Word of God - which will return us to God.  That will be handled by bringing us to Christ, Who is the wisdom of God - as well as our salvation through being our righteousness and our redemption.  Hmmm . . . the gospel right here before our eyes - in Proverbs 8

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life. Proverbs 16:17

I live in a city where there are two ways to get around.  The first is to get around the city by trying to navigate the maze of city streets that are in it.  When you do this you also have the problem of constantly running into traffic lights and stop signs.  What is far superior to this way of getting around town is what we call the bypass.  It is a highway that goes around the city and provides a very quick way of covering large distances without having the problems of the normal city streets.  The upright also have a highway that blesses them and makes sure that they have a clear path in walking with God.  That is what today's proverb addresses and helps us to see. 

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil.  The best way to walk in God's will is to depart from evil.  This is a pretty simple thing to understand.  When we see evil - we go the other way.  The difficulty in our society is determining what is and what is not evil.  Our society would call good evil and evil good.  They do not value God's Word and God's ways.  They also in most cases even believe in truth - except as the individual views it.  Therefore a lifestyle where we go to the Word of God to learn what truth is - is not the common thing.  Most folks call what Christians call righteousness - judging - and intolerance.  God calls it knowing the difference between good and evil. 

God calls us to depart from evil.  Because I don't want to have anyone misunderstand what God says here - I will fully define the word "depart."  It is the Hebrew word, "sur" and it means to turn away, to go away, to desert, quit, keep far away.  It is also translated to stop, to take away, to remove, and to turn aside from something.  So when we realize what this word means - it is very easy to see that when God calls something evil - our response to it is to stay away from it - and if we are already doing it - to depart and go away from it - keeping as far away as possible. 

The second thing we are told here is that the one who "watches his way preserves his life."  Watching our lives means being very careful and cautious.  Times when I have sinned against God are usually times when I have become careless about watching an area of my life.  Sin is insidious in how it will seek to gain a foothold - and we must watch if we are going to avoid it and walk godly.  The one who does watch is not being ultra-victorian as some would chide - rather he is doing what is necessary to preserve his life.  This can be viewed two ways - first that he is preserving his life itself - because sin will bring death in many circumstances.  Second, though is preserving the life of God that is given to us as we live by the Spirit of God who is in us.  Either way - the man who watches what he says and does is wise to do it. 

There is a highway that is before us every day - it is marked as well as the highways upon which we drive our cars.  This highway is clearly marked out for us in the Word of God.  It is revealed to us as the highway of the upright - but also as the way of righteousness and the way of the Lord.  The wise man is the one who daily consults with the map (the Word) and who chooses to follow it.