So they will be life to your soul And adornment to your neck.  Proverbs 3:22

We are looking at how God gives us both instruction in theological truths about His ways and Himself and how these are used to make practical decisions in life.  Today, we will look at how God gives life to our souls – and how this is manifest in God working in our will to choose His way instead of another way.

Consider how God, who gives us knowledge is not just placing information into our minds, but is seeking to influence our wills as well.  As we make choices - willing ourselves forward in life - those choices are bathed in a wonderful sauce that has both sound theology as well as sound practice as ingredients.  Every choice has behind it the Scriptures and the ways of God as its foundation.  Rather than shooting from the proverbial hip, we find ourselves shooting from "the Script."  The Script I speak of is the Word of God - the guide for our lives that has been given to us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit - and now which is being taught to us daily by the same wonderful Holy Spirit as well.

Consider for a moment a scenario where you are facing a decision.  Imagine with me that in the midst of making that decision that a thought comes into your mind to act.  As you ponder that course of action suddenly another voice enters the picture.  The first thought may be appealing to your flesh - it may have all the benefits of the world attached to it - and it may even have the approval of someone you desire to impress.  But as this second voice or thought comes into the picture - you are instructed that "willing" that way would be contrary to God's Word.  Making that choice would in effect be choosing sin.  Now you have a choice - a true choice between two things - God's way or another way.  Which will you choose? 

This is how God's Word and God's wisdom works in your will.  God said to Israel through Moses that God was setting before them life and death.  This simply meant that they could choose the ways of the world - the ways of Egypt and Canaan where they were headed - or - they could choose God's ways which had been clearly taught to them in the Law.  Moses said that a way of blessing or cursing was right before their eyes.  Remember that often the way of sin is pleasant at first.  It might taste good, feel good, look good - but later it is NOT GOOD!  God's ways may involve not feeling so great at first - it even may involve saying, "No" to a desire that is strong within you.  But God's work in your will is to fortify you with a knowledge of Him and His ways that will enable you to say, "No" to sin and "Yes" to righteousness.  You will find life and power to make the proper choice.  But, one thing to remember is that in the end - even though knowledge is there, even though a direction is made clear, and even though power is offered to complete the deal - you still must choose! 

It is a wonderful thing to see that God is wanting to work in your will.  His sound wisdom and practical application will come to you as the Holy Spirit teaches you.  He will come to offer instruction to you - and that instruction will inveritably involve a choice.  You must choose His way - and until you do the fullness of that power will not be released.  But know this - in doing this God has freed you to make a choice - and to be blessed as you choose His way.  You are not in bondage to sin or self in these moments.  You will choose - and He is working to help you choose sound wisdom to make that choice - and practical instruction to know how to carry it out.  What a wonderful thing to experience God in this way!  What a wonderful opportunity to do what is good and right.  In those moments dear saints let me give you a biblical admonition - just do it!

So they will be life to your soul And adornment to your neck.  Proverbs 3:22

Solomon has told us that there are two things we must not let out of our sight.  The previous verse tells us that these things are a lofty thinking about God given to us by His Word and His Spirit, as well as a way to take God's wisdom and flesh it our in wonderfully practical ways of living each and every moment we are alive.  Now Solomon then tells us that such a way of thinking and choosing will lead to life in our souls and adornment to our neck.  The two pictures given to us here are beautiful to see. 

The first speaks of God's life being poured into our very souls.  Since the soul refers to the mind, will, and emotions, we see a beautiful work going on in the immaterial part of our being due to this wisdom and practical thinking.  This wonderful work of God is that our mind is being educated by both sound theology and practical out workings of Who God is in our daily decisions.  Thus our thinking is guided not by the world system, but by the Holy Spirit as He teaches us God's Word and ways. 

How does this work?  It works as we choose the discipline of reading God's Word daily.  As we read, we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit Who then teaches us what is in the Word.  As verse 21 has said, we are being instructed by the Holy Spirit in two ways.  First we are being taught the deep, wonderful theological truths of Who God is.  We are being founded upon sound wisdom from God.  That begins with knowing Who He is and how He, as the penultimate, is sovereign over all things in our lives.  We learn what Moses requested while on the journey of the Exodus with Israel.  He asked, "Let me know Your ways that I may know You." (Exodus 33:13)  This request gives us so much insight into how God gives us life in our souls - here speaking of the how He does this in our minds.  As we read God's Word - the Holy Spirit helps us to know the ways of God - what He likes, what He dislikes, what He wants, what He commands - and a hundred different things like this.  As we know His ways we will find ourselves also beginning to know Him too.  As this knowledge about God becomes a knowing of God - our minds will be filled with the right information about this world and how to live in it.  The knowledge we receive will not be given to us by the fallen society that has rejected God, but by the God who created it and wants it used for His glory. 

Is your mind being blessed and filled with the Word of God?  Is God showing you daily the way to walk - and through that knowledge also steering you into His will?  Are you seeing your mind being changed as you learn of His ways - and ultimately learning Who He is and What He deisres?  This is the way of life - and it is how wisdom enters into our thinking so as to bless our entire lives.  Turn to Him today - turn to His Word and learn from it - learn from Him.  This is the way of blessing - and the way that will lead you to life in your minds.

The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 18:15

The search for knowledge is an interesting thing to look at in the Scriptures - as well as in the world.  The world wants knowledge - but it is a different kind of knowledge from a different source.  The knowledge that he world desires is what is called worldly knowledge.  It is a knowledge that ignores God's Word - and is in opposition to it.  It is knowledge that denies God's existance as creator - denies the moral realities of the world - and encourages man to continue to live independently from God.

The knowledge that is encouraged here in Proverbs is that which is gained by not only knowing God and His Word, but also being able to take what you know and use it to guide you in making decisions and in pleasing God in every situation that you face in life.  We see here that the mind of the prudent acquires knowledge.  Mind here refers to our thinking and reasoning - but it affects the heart and the core values that guide our decision making.  The wise man mentioned here is the one whose mind and heart is prudent.  What is meant by this is that he is constantly seeking the ability to look at two things and see the difference between them.  He is a discerning man who does not take everything at face value.  He looks into things so that he may acquire knowledge before he makes decisions - or even decides how to view something in life.  If there is any way that this man can get knowledge in this way - he is trying to acquire it.  This word, acquire speaks of purchasing something in order to possess it.  This man wants knowledge - and he will pay whatever cost there is to get it.  When you read ths do not think of money - but think of time, study, and diligence in seeking and knowing the Word of God.  It is often costly in time and effort to get the kind of knowledge that yields discernment as well.  You just cannot open and book and get it.  It comes by knowing the Word in a way that helps us to see things as God sees them. 

The wise man also tunes his ears to seek knowledge.  Note here that we move from our minds to our ears.  What is different about this word is that it is saying something far more than just listening with our physical hearing.  The New Testament often uses the phrase, "hear what the Spirit is saying."  That means being able to hear with far more than just our physical ears.  It speaks of the ability to hear God.  The word seek emphasizes it even more.  This is the Hebrew Word that speaks of seeking God's presence.  Daniel 9:3 speaks of this kind of seeking when we read of Daniel doing the following.  "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes."  When we "seek" for knowledge we are giving our attention to it.  We are praying and crying out to God to give us His knowledge and His heart for things.  At times this involves even fasting and special concern for gaining the knowledge that God has for us. 

Knowledge is important for the man wanting to be wise.  It will involve reading and study like all other forms of knowledge, but it will require more.  It will require that we have a heart for God - and desire a spiritual knowledge that God gives us from His Word.  But the reward for such a search is that we wil be able to walk through life being able to discern what to do and how to do it in a number of situations.  We will have a discernment that will allow us to see beyond surface issues and get to the very heart of a decision or a response to others.  the place you se this the best is in the life of Jesus.  His knowledge of the Word and of His Father's heart gave Him the ability to cut through any kind of lie or misinformation.  He truly could answer not just the question of a man - but the heart and motive behind it.  That is the wonderful discernment that comes with the knowledge God gives us as we seek it and Him diligently.