"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. Proverbs 8:13
Hate . . . most people believe that Christians should not hate at all. They believe that hate is a bad thing. Yet here in Proverbs, the book of wisdom from God, we have a command to hate! Let's take a look and see how God calls us to be a hater . . . of sin and evil. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil . . . here is where it all starts. It starts with a respect and honor for God Himself. We will never be wise until we understand that God is great - greater than all others and penultimate! That respect, honor, and yes fear will move us toward wisdom - because what is penultimate in our lives is what will eventually govern us. That honor and respect also means that we will hate evil. Hate . . . This Hebrew word means to hate, to despise, to dislike something or someone and thus to be hostile toward it and loathe it. The statement, God doesn't hate anyone is not theologically sound. According to Psalm 11:5, God hates those who love violence. We learn in Hosea 9:15 and Amos 6:8 that God detests and hates those who turn to evil and choose it instead of Him. Psalm 5:5 makes is clear that God hates all those who love evil. Rather than try to do an exhaustive study on this - let's realize at this point that God hates certain things - and yes - He hates certain people. Here is the fact of this passage - if we honor and respect God - we will hate evil. We will loathe and despise it with everything within us. The proverb goes on to say, we hate several things specifically. Pride . . . we hate pride. Pride has an interesting root word that instructs us greatly. The root word means to rise up, to lift up, and thus to exalt. There is only One Who sould be lifted up and raised up and exalted. God is that One and His interests and desires should always reign supreme in our lives. Problem is that they don't - and we lift ourselves up and exalt ourselves as the authority in our lives. We decide we know best - and we are adequate for life and for everything. This is the root of pride - when we choose to exalt self above God. This we should HATE! Arrogance . . . this is pride in action. Pride indicates the attitude that a person has that is independent of God - the one who thinks they can live apart from Him. Arrogance is when a person acts upon that pride and lives in a way that no longer exalts and honors God. We act arrogantly when we lift up our own thinking and reasoning above that of God. That kind of action we should HATE! The Evil Way . . . the word way is the often used word "derek" and it again refers to a lifestyle - a way a person walks and lives their lives. Note here we've moved from the attitude of pride - to the acting out of that pride in arrogance - and now we see the fruition of many acts of arrogance in an evil lifestyle and way of living. When we choose not to honor or lift up God, but rather lift up ourselves over and over again - we develop an entire lifestyle. God hates a lifestyle that ignores and dishonors Him - and we should HATE it too. The Perverted Mouth . . . This is a mouth that deviates and distorts the Lord's ways and turns from Him. It is corrupt and deceptive speech - a distortion of what is straight and right. When a prideful lifestyle and arrogant actions prevail in our lives - we will then justify them by speaking what is perverted. We will justify our lives - and as we do - we will distort God's ways - and deviate from them in what we say. Romans 1 says that the wicked not only live the way they do - knowing it is not God's way - but they also heartily encourage others to do the same thing. God does hate certain things - and He lists them here for us to learn and to avoid. The wise man learns these things - and realizes that one of the most foolish things in life to do is to anger and enrage the living God and embrace what He hates.
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For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, And I saw among the naive, And discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense, Passing through the street near her corner; And he takes the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and in the darkness. Proverbs 7:6-9
I find it not only interesting, but also highly instructive to see that God addresses the issue of sexual immorality several times in the opening chapters of Proverbs. Far from being a book that is out of date and not in step with the times, the Bible is very instructive to any generation that would pick it up and seek to learn from it. The current verses from Proverbs 7 read more like a script from a soap opera than they do the Bible - but that is the dig isn't it. The Bible does address the core corruptions of man - and does so with amazing clarity and color. That is why it can be so instructive if we will listen. This all starts innocently enough. The writer is looking out of the window of his home - through the lattice in the window to see what he can see at night. Again, typical evening in a typical town anywhere in the world. But that is where things, unfortunately in a typical fashion, become not just interesting, but instructive. He sees one "among the naive," one of the simple-minded ones. This is not a compliment - this one is simple-minded because as we will continue to see, he is NOT wise. As he looks he begins to discern something about this young man - he saw deeper than skin deep - and what he saw was not good. This was "a young man lacking sense." The word sense is interesting. It means he lacked heart - he was wanting and very needy - this young man did not have a heart for God - and his heart was in great need of change and transformation. When we get involved in sexual immorality we are among those who lack a heart for God. We are unwise and simple-minded to miss the danger in turning from God to our own fallen hearts. If we are going to stand against the wiles of the devil and those of the world, we need a heart for God. The fact is that these attacks - those that entice our flesh and our eyes and the pride of living our lives as we want - are some of the wicked one's most effective advances. It will take a heart that is regenerated and renewed to stand in these moments. And that is not what this young man possessed. Therefore we continue to read of his demise. We see what a heart that is not turned to the Lord does here. It may not run directly into sin - but it definitely does not take the principled road either. He takes his journey in a bad part of town - at least a bad part for those with sexual immorality issues in their lives. He does not flee sexual immorality as the Scriptures advise. He decides to "pass through" the street near to the immoral woman's house. He wants to flirt with evil - probably thinking he can handle it in the end. The fact is that he cannot handle it - and as he walks near her house - he suddenly finds that he is taking the way to her house. Here is wisdom for us in regard to sexual immorality. Stay FAR from temptation. There are times when temptation will come to you - and that is unavoidable. But for the vast majority of life - our proximity to temptation is a matter of our choice. Now, just because you are near to temptation does not mean you will succomb to it, but the closer you get to sinning - the more likely you will choose to sin. The wise man steers clear of the harlot's house. He stays away from the woman who flirts with him. He avoids the loose-moraled women of the world. But this young man reveals his total lack of discernment by heading near her house. Here is a piece of advice that will pay off for you if you will heed it. When you have a problem with an area of temptation, stay far away from it. When you have the thought that you can go near it - or you have a strong urge to go around it - put that thought out of your mind. This is the prelude to failure and acting out. God will not lead you "hang around" temptation. In fact He instructed us to pray that He would NOT lead us into temptation. When this young man took the way near her corner - he knew within that she would be there. Secretly - at least at a heart level - he wanted her to come out and meet him. To make such a calculated mistake is to make provision for our sin - something the Scripture expressly forbids. Some may read the previous paragraph and accuse me of prejudice and judgmentalism toward this young man. How could I make such strident comments about him? I make these comments because this young man is not fulfilling Scripture - he is ignoring it. Why would he make such choices? Why would he make them when it is twilight? There is a reason - a twofold reason. First, he has every intent in the recesses of his heart to walk in immorality. Why else would he go out near her house after the sun has set? Why would he wait until dark? Another thing we might not be aware of too is that this was the time when prostitutes and women of this type would go out to ply their trade among men who left their morals elsewhere. To go at this hour to this location was the height of folly - and the prelude to disaster as we see later. This young man lacks heart - that is the estimation given to us in verse 7 of this passage. He lacks the heart to stand firm in God's ways and avoid the pitfalls of his own flesh. He starts on a journey near her home deceiving himself of his intention to meet her. He gives in quickly when she arrives to deceive him. He is not dealing with his core corruptions - not being honest with himself that he is planning on being sexually immoral - and he is not being true to God's standards even as he sets out on his unwise course. The attitude of one avoiding sin is absent in his mind. If it was he would know that the wise man views sin as a plague - as a deadly wild beast whose only desire is to catch and devour him. If that were his mindset - he would have fled this scene instead of having walked into it. May God give us grace to do the same! For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals And his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. Proverbs 6:26-29
Here we have the "harlot" described for us in very expressive language. Interesting that we don't even call sexually immoral women harlots any longer - but the term is what God uses to describe a woman who has sexual relations with men - and is not married to them. Harlot is the word "zanah" and it means to commit fornication, another word we've left behind in our enlightenment - or should we say, "endarkenment." This word is used to describe anything from adultery and prostitution to fornication and unfaithfulness. It is the word used for the women involved in sexual immorality, and that is what it refers to in this passage. Let's take a closer look at how she is described. 1. She reduces you to a loaf of bread . . . This was the price of a prostitute. What God intended to be a beautiful thing in the sexual relationship between a man and a woman has now been reduced to giving someone a loaf of bread for sex. What a sad picture of how high we fall. 2. She hunts for the precious life . . . The adulteress hunts for our very lives. Too often we see sexual things in our lives without this revelation. We would think twice about illicit sex if we grasped that we were not being seduced - we were being hunted for the kill. 3. Hugging fire . . . The harlot wants us to think of her embraces. She's there to comfort us and bring us pleasure. Interesting that the Scriptures say that when we do this we're hugging fire to ourselves. The harlot promises pleasurable embraces - but would we think of them this way if we were getting ready to hug a burning log to our chests with the result that we'd be badly burned? 4. Burned clothes . . . The result of embracing the harlot is to be physically burned - and what would be burned is our clothes first of all. All affairs seek secrecy. We don't want any trace of our indiscretions leaving any evidence. But in a day when a person had very few changes of clothes - we are told doing this is like embracing fire while thinking your clothes won't be burned. The fact is there is evidence - and just like burned clothes - their will be proof of our unfaithfulness. 5. Walking on hot coals . . . The harlot wants us to think that we can walk into her bedroom without harming ourselves. Yet the Scriptures tell us that doing so is like walking on hot coals and thinking we won't burn our feet. Our "walk" is going to be extremely hindered! That is the result of sexual immorality. We get burned - and that burning severely hinders our ability to walk with the Lord - and sometimes walk much at all. Imagine being laid up for weeks with feet scorched and blistered. Those caught in adultery not only hinder their walk with God - for many it is even painful to walk outside among people because of the stigma attached to their actions. Think first about this - before visiting the harlot. The conclusion to this is a warning - so is the one who has sex with his neighbor's wife! All these pictures - and they are graphic pictures indeed - are what we'll get for a few moments of stolen pleasure. Just seeing these things by themselves - we'd run from the situation - but our problem is that often the pleasure promised - and our blindness to the situation - keep us from seeing all this. God knows that these graphic pictures will help us to see the real danger - the real harm - the real damage that will come from visiting the harlot. The warning is clear - "Whoever touches her will not go unpunished!" This word "unpunished" means to be acquitted - to be declared free, clean, or pure. The one who visits and uses the harlot will not enjoy these things. There will be punishment for adultery - and that punishment is sure. Ours is a visual society . . . and that in itself is often why we get in trouble. The harlot used to be a physical woman alone - and not images we see on billboards, in magazines, and in movies and television shows. But thanks be to God that in His battle against sin He has given us pictures - graphic portrayals that get our attention. He does so to remind us of the dangers of sexual sin. May we see the pictures - be horrified at what they show us - and turn from the harlot at every opportunity for sin. Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:26-27
Wondering in advance is one of the practices of those who are wise. It helps us to consider what is ahead of us when we make certain decisions. As we see the future laid out before us - and we see the consequences of our actions, both good and bad, suddenly choices that we have to make are much easier to make. Watch means to weight out or to ponder. The idea here is that someone is pondering evil and then choosing to avoid it. It means to seriously think about the path your feet are going to take - and choose to take them in a direction pleasing to the Lord. Sometimes we don't think enough about the path of our feet. We just act and go along with our lives. We don't take the time to think about where we're going - what we're doing - and where it is going to lead when things reach a conclusion. We are told that if we will do this we will have all our ways established. Ways is "derek" which again is the Hebrew word that refers to our lifestyle - the way we're going in life. To have that way or that lifestyle established means to have it firm and fixed. It means our lifestyle is one that is upright and good. We will have a life that matters and just as important - one that will be steadfast in what pleases and honors the Lord. There is also a sense in which we are being told our lives will last - whereas the worldling and the wicked man will only be temporary. When we look at the way of our feet, we need to know not to turn to the right or the left. This is assuming that our feet are on God's paths and ways and not our own. When we turn to the right or the left, we are choosing to depart from God's paths and walk in our own, the world's ways, or those of the devil. Which ever of these three are true, we will find ourselves in a way that is wrong - and ultimately a way that will hurt and cost us. The only turn we should make in life is one away from evil. The word "turn" here is a Hebrew word that means to go away from something, to desert it, to quit, to keep far away. When we see evil we need to remove ourselves from it - depart - honesly - RUN! To hang around evil is to court its greater influence in our lives. When we see evil we should hide ourselves from it. The longer we remain in the presence of evil, the more likely we are to participate in it. Thus the wise man runs from evil. Think about where you're going. It is important to do this - to consider our lives and examine them from time to time. It is too easy to begin to wander from the ways of God - too easy to take a path that leads us away from the Lord. That is why this Proverb helps us so much - it encourages us to think through where our journey reaches its destination. We think about the end of things. When we do this - we will see the wisdom of turning away from evil and keeping clear of the wicked one and his ways. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Right choices and right paths - how to we make them and how do we stay on them? People always are interested in a study or a piece of wisdom that will help them know and walk in God's will. What we have before us in Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of the best nuggets of wisdom in the entire Word of God dealing with this subject. It begins with trust. We come to the Lord and trust Him with all our heart. The word trust here is the Hebrew word "batach" and it means to trust or be confident. It speaks of someone with whom you feel safe and secure. When you trust someone in this way you are saying you can rely on them. In certain places this word even means to be bold and extremely confident in someone. Note that the one we trust in this way is the Lord. Here is an interesting yet very telling question, "Do you trust God?" Do you have a great confidence in Him? Is there a sense of great safety and security in placing yourself completely at His disposal - and putting your future absolutely in His hands? Do you approach the Scriptures and the things God says with a confidence so great that you boldly walk in whatever He says? That, dear saint, is trust. In order to trust someone in this way - you have to know them. A very godly man once said, "If you truly know God, you will love Him - and if you truly love Him, you will trust Him - and if you love and trust Him, you will obey Him." Knowing and making right choices and decisions continues with distrust. I know this sounds contradictory, but it is true. The one you need to distrust is yourself. Do not lean on your own understanding. Understanding is an interesting thing to examine in the Scriptures. The word itself means the ability to have insight and discernment into things. It is derived from the base Hebrew word "bin" which means "between." Thus the idea here is to be able to distinguish between things. One example is to discern between good and evil. There is definitely a moral component to this word as it means to see the good and embrace it and shun the evil. When we truly have understanding - we will choose God's way. What is more fascinating is that in Proverbs 9:10 we read, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. So if we want understanding - we need to know God as the Holy One. It is when we see Him and look to Him as the One who gives us true understanding as to what is holy and what is not that we gain understanding and can distinguish between what we should trust (trust Him) and what we should not trust (the working of our own minds). Why should we distrust our own understanding? Scripture gives ample reasoning for this. Ephesians 4:17-19 tells us the following: "So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness." Walking in our own mind's eye is to walk in futility - to walk in a darkened understanding. We are ignorant and hardened in heart to God's ways - which results in giving ourselves over to sensuality and impurity. We are fallen, sinful creatures who have left the way of God. We will walk according to the course of this present world - according to the prince of the power of the air (a designation for Satan) and by the spirit that animates the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). Trust yourself and you are trusting a rebel who does not desire God's ways or paths. That is why we need to distrust our own understanding. Our own understanding will surely lead us astray of God's will. Right choices continue as we acknowledge God in all we do. The word "ways" here refers to our life paths - the very lifestyle choices that we make. This does not refer to isolated choices here and there, but to the entire direction of our lives. In all those life choices we are to acknowledge God. The word for acknowledge is "yada" and it means to know someone. It means not just knowing them as an acquaintence, but knowing them intimately. It is the actual word used for sexual relations between a man and woman. This is considered the height of knowing someone and there is nothing casual about it. So the command here is to know God in all our ways. In all our lifestyle choices we are to know the Lord. This leads to another interesting question for us when it comes to our choices. When we make our life choices - every decision that makes up the direction of our lives - do we know God in the midst of it? Are our decisions made in the context of knowing God? Can we honestly say that our decisions were made as a result of an intimate, close relationship with God? And here may be the ultimate thought . . . Do our decisions help us know Him more intimately - or do they push us away from such an intimate knowing of God? What is the payoff in all this? When we live this way, we have the assurance from God Himself that he will make our paths straight. The path mentioned here is the course of our lives. The word was used to describe the road taken by a traveler - the roads over which the caravans and troops travelled. There is a highway mapped out for our lives when we make our decisions in this way. That way is described as "straight." This is the word "yashar" and it means to be straight - to be smooth and pleasing. The road is a pleasing road because it brings us to our desired destination. There are some who might say, "I know those who chose God's path - and it led to persecution and trouble for them in the name of the Lord. How can you say that He makes our paths pleasing and smooth?" My answer to this person would be to ask if they would consider a road pleasing and smooth if it led to a place where they would be destroyed in the end? Reardless of how marvelous the road and how wonderful the view - they would consider that a cursed road because of where it took them in the end. Yashar does not mean a road pleasing to our flesh, but a straight road. It is a road that is a good road because of where it leads. To walk in God's will - to please Him will bring about a desired end - not a destructive one. The payoff his pleasing God here and now - it is walking in His favor and blessing - it is knowing His presence and peace now and also for all eternity in heaven. Right decisions and right paths - they are what we would all like to make daily. The way to make those right decisions is laid out for us perfectly by the writer of Proverbs. Trust God implicitly and do not trust your own darkened way of thinking and reasoning. Make it your goal in life to know God as intimately and closely as you can in everything you do and say. And as you walk in this way - realize that the destination to which you are being led is the most wonderful, pleasing, and marvelous one possible - even thought the ride there may get a little bumpy every now and then. To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; 15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; Proverbs 2:12-15
Why is wisdom needed? Well for many in the modern mindset, maybe it isn't. They contend that the basic nature of man is good. Yet the very reason for wisdom is the fact that evil exists. But we are not being told about evil in theory - we are being told here that evil men exist. The battle with evil in theory is one only in our minds - but a battle with evil that actually involves evil men - that is another story altogether. The first thing we learn is that there is a "way of evil" that exists in our world. We are facing those who have developed lifestyles that embrace evil. The facts are in - and those facts clearly delineate for us that man is fallen. The facts also indicate that being fallen, man has developed a whole way of life that is contrary to the will of God. If we are not careful and wise - we will find ourselves following that path - that way of evil. According to Solomon, we need to be delivered from the way of evil. Maybe this is why we hear John telling us, "Do not love the world or the things of the world, if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him." The way we are drawn into this way of evil is by men who speak perverse things. This perverse speech involves saying things that distort and deviate from what God has said and what God wants. It is deceptive, corrupt speaking that either denies the Word or twists it until it suits our fallen appetites. That's why we need wisdom and discretion - the ability to distinguish between things godly and ungodly. We need to know when an "evil man" is trying to deceive us and lead us astray. The evil man leaves the paths of uprightness to walk in their darkness. Here it is again - the fact that there is an entire walk and path that is ungodly. But we also learn that there is a corresponding walk that is upright and godly. The evil man leaves God's ways and chooses those that are dark instead. We learn again from John that the ungodly hate the light and do not come to the light. That is the way of the evil man. That is also why we need wisdom and understanding - to remind us that fellowship with the evil man means fellowship with darkness. It seems that God is trying to get us to see that there is a light/darkness - good/evil - godly/ungodly situation in life. Worldly wisdom equates the best of thinking and acting to mankind. That is why they are shocked with evil rears its head. They want to think the best of man - when the truth is man IS capable of the worst atrocities. Proverbs tells us that there are those men who "delight in doing evil and rejoice in perversity." We almost shrink from these statements - yet that is what is said here. If there has been a "fall" of mankind into sin that has corrupted them utterly - then it really isn't that much of a stretch that man rejoices in evil and perversity. To fallen man - evil is good and good is evil. Isn't that what we see today? In our world evil is called good and good evil. They consider the things of God strange and His commandments as burdensome. They see freedom as bondage and their current state of bondage as freedom. Delight in doing evil then becomes the norm - and it should not be all that strange to see those devoting entire programs on television and articles in writing to rejoice in how they pervert the straight paths of God. Look at the sexual revolution of the 60's as an example. The morals of the past were thrown off (possibly the biggest lie of that period was to deny that such things had always been happening - just that they were done far more secretly). But I think that the shock was not that morals were cast aside, but that now those acting immorally were rejoicing openly in their perversity. The movement was not just a desire to set aside what is right - it was a rejoicing in what heretofore was considered evil. What is even more amazing to me is that several generations of this behavior has led to society adopting such actions as normal - and now even certain segments of society say we should rejoice in evil. NOW we get why we need to cry out to God for wisdom, discretion, and knowledge to escape such a fate. The final statement about the way of evil is that their direction in life becomes like their heart. Their paths (again the word for lifestyle) are crooked. Crooked is the Hebrew word 'iqqesh'. It means something that is morally, religiously, and socially perverted. This perversity comes from the source of an evil, deceitful, perverse heart. No longer are certain actions perverted - but the whole direction and path of their life runs counter to the truth of God. Their lifestyle is finally described as being devious. This is the last straw. It describes a person who has followed their perverse and wicked ways to the point where they now despise and reject God's ways. They find them abhorrent. What is worse is that they are utterly blind to their condition. What we have described for us is the natural degradation of fallen men. They may begin with the remnants of God's image within them - but as they continue in their perversity they soon scald their conscience and harden it to the point where they no longer feel any shame in their sin. By the way, this is exactly what is taught to us in Romans chapter one. We learn that man begins with denying God and being ungrateful, but ends with those who cheer on the wickedness of man - preferring their own perversity to anything God has to offer. In light of such an ignoble end - we see why Solomon impresses on his son the importance of crying out to God for wisdom and understanding. There is too much at stake here to live and let live. The fall of man guarantees that what starts as a mere snowflake will become a massive ball of snow that destroys all in its path. May such a vision of the destructive power of our core perverseness motivate us to a passionate cry for God's wisdom and a desperate search for His ways and paths. "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. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
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