"Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD.  They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof."   Proverbs 1:28-30

There is a time when prayer will not reach God - not will it do a person any good at all.  That may sound like a strange thing to say - but it is true biblically.  God warns those who reject His counsel and who turn away from His reproof that there will be a time when they pray and find that no one is listening.

Proverbs tells us that when our lifestyle is one that rejects God's Word and wisdom that there will be a time when due to the lack of it we will call on God and even seek Him diligently.  The problem is that the reason they do this is because they want to be rescued from their bad decisions and from the consequences of their actions.  Their call to God is not made out of any desire to repent and change how they are living.  This kind of prayer will not receive God's answer - although it will receive His rejection. 

The reason God rejects these kinds of prayers is because of the state of their hearts.  These are the one who hated knowledge.  They are not ignorant in human terms.  In fact often those who hate knowledge are brilliant in the world's eyes.  They just hate the knowledge that God has to offer to them.  They hate the Word of God - and they hate the things that God has to say about the true state of humanity and the true state of this world.  What I refer to is the worldview that sees mankind as fallen and sinful.  There are scholars who absolutely reject that worldview.  They see man as basically good.  In their estimation what mankind needs is not salvation from sin - but to be resuced from those who make us feel bad about ourselves and tell us that we are sinful.  They believe that if mankind was just educated properly and kept from the negativity of the Biblical view of mankind.  If mankind were not told that anything was sin - but that man could claim their basic god-ness once again - then mankind would prosper and climb to a whole new level of evolution.

This was the view at the turn of the century as mankind pretty much rejected the biblical view of sin.  The world thought it would rise to a whole new existance without war and without anything to hinder it.  What we received from this new enlightened man was a century like no other in its ability to kill one another, make war, commit genocide, and perpetrate horrors upon one another in ways that seemed previously impossible. 

When men reject God's knowledge - they also choose against the fear of God.  They do not honor or respect Him - and they also do not tremble at His Word.  When men do not believe God's Word - they are destined in every negative way to fulfill it.  They truly will show the work of the fall of man in ways that will astound future generations.  Actually future generations, just as blind as their fathers, will say that these things happened because they didn't quite do it right - or because they need an even more God-rejecting philosophy.  In so doing they fulfill what verse 30 says.  They would not accept God's counsel and they spurn all His reproof.  Even as they watch the truth of God come to pass and His worldview upheld again and again, they reject it.  Blind guides of the blind, they reject the existance of the very pit into which they lead one another as they continue in their rebellion.

Please understand that I know that such writing as this is very depressing.  But it is only depressing if we continue to reject God's Word and the counsel, knowledge, understanding, and truth that comes from it.  For those who accept God's counsel there is an answer to the futility of mankind and the stupidity of his ways.  There is the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  There is a savlation that God grants us and offers to us through His Son.  There is a hope that when we embrace God's ultimate worldview - we not only see our sinfulness - but we are also allowed to see our Savior as well.  God graces us with forgiveness, regeneration, and His ongoing work of sanctification.  We are redeemed, literally bought from the slave market of sin and given the glorious hope of heaven and fellowship with God for all eternity. 

There have been and will continue to be those who scorn the negative message that MUST come to mankind for there to be hope.  They will say that it is the negative message itself that is the problem - and that if we would just rid ourselves of it - all would be well.  But they do not understand that the so-called negative-ness of that message is absolutely necessary in order for us to get the most glorious message of the ages - God's salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!  You cannot have one without the other.  If you reject the message that we are sinners - and choose instead to spurn God's truth and counsel - all that awaits you is deception, destruction, and ultimately death.

"Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. Proverbs 1:23

Can a person truly walk in wisdom if all they ever want in life are positive, uplifting messages from God?  There are those today who say that the church should not be negative - should not issue rebukes, corrections, and most of all should not dwell on the whole issue of sin.  "Let's be positive," is their cry - and when we are, people will come back to the church!

There is a fundamental problem with this view of things.  It completely ignores that whole, "fall of mankind" thing.  The reason Christianity cannot be "all positive, all the time" is because man is a fallen creature given to rebellion and walking in ways that are destructive and damning.  At some point the honest among us are going to have to address the fundamental flaw in human nature.  If men were naturally disposed to honoring and glorifying God, this would not be necessary.  But the facts are that the heart is deceitful and desperately sick - that there is none who have done good, not even one - and that unless we repent we will all likewise perish.  Man is not a naturally wise creature - unless you count being wise in his own eyes.

Wisdom is personified in Proverbs quite often.  Wisdom shouts in the streets, calls out in the square seeking to get our attention.  What does she say?  Her first words are not exactly positive.  She calls mankind "naive ones" as well as "simple-minded."  She refers to the inhabitants of this globe as "scoffers" and "fools."  The reason this does not sound positive is because it isn't.  The Bible is not into any kind of a positive confession type of tripe - instead it is honest about the condition of man.  As a result, her first command is issued here in verse 23.

Turn to my repoof.  That is her first command to mankind.  If we are going to be wise, it will require us to turn from our present selfish and self-centered ways and turn to the reproof of true wisdom.  Wisdom will require reproof - correction - rebuke.  We need to grasp that our current fleshly thinking is foolish and stupid.  Wisdom will not enter our hearts unless we first unseat the poser who sits there presently.  That is us.  We need to lay aside human wisdom and that which parades as understanding - and choose to conform our thinking to God's ways and paths. 

Here is a truth that will help you gain wisdom every day.  Say it to yourself several times before you leave your home for the day.  "If I disagree with God's Word, I am wrong!"  Wisdom calls to us and tells us that something wonderful awaits those who accept reproof.  But the person who in pride refuses to admit that he is wrong - that person will remain mired in the foolishness of his own ways. 

What happens when we turn to God's reproof?  Here is something wonderful!  He pours out His Spirit upon us.  Did you know that the Holy Spirit is the personification of wisdom!  He wants us to turn from foolishness - so He can be poured out upon us - and so that He can teach us.  Each time we turn from self and the wisdom of this world, the Holy Spirit is waiting to make known God's words to us.  Here is a shocker - wisdom is found when the God's Spirit is poured out on us and we come to know the Word of God.  In that moment we know wisdom. 

The way of wisdom is the way of correction and reproof.  We cannot become wise until we embrace humility.  We cannot become wise until we respect and honor God's Word above all other sources of truth.  We cannot become wise unless God in His mercy pours out His Spirit and opens our minds to the truth of His words.  When this happens, we'll know the truth - and see that truth corrects us and turns us to the right thinking and the right path.  The path to wisdom may not start positive - but when the Spirit of God begins to reveal truth and wisdom to us - it surely ends positive.  Be open to God's reproof - to His correction - knowing that when we turn to Him - an abundance of truth and righteousness will be our reward.