Wisdom and Living for Our Own Best Interest - Proverbs 9:12

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it. Proverbs 9:12

One of the interesting aspects of wisdom is that there are what you could call "selfish" benefits for walking wisely.  We all know that selfishness is not wise - so these are not actually benefits for being selfish - but there are some very real blessings for ourselves when we choose to live according to the wisdom of God rather than according to the ways of the world. 

It probably reads funny to many Christians that if we are wise, we are wise for ourselves.  But this is not saying that our fundamental drive is to be selfish and self-centered.  That would not fit at all with the previous statement that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  What it is saying is that a lifestyle that makes consistent wise choices is one that will be very beneficial to the one making them.  Emphasize the "if" here - because after all that has been said in chapter 9, the "if" is the choice that we have to make.  Are we going to be wise?  Are we going to choose the way that is in agreement with God's ways?  IF we are wise - we will be wise for ourselves - blessing us - blessing our family - blessing our friends - and blessing those around us.  There is the truth in a very straight forward way.  Make wise choices - it is the best thing you can do for yourself!

The second half of this proverb is given as a warning.  Scoff at what God says - and you alone will bear the consequences of your actions.  In the end - YOU will pay for unwise decisions.  We know from many other verses in Proverbs as well as the rest of the entire Bible that unwise choices will affect others.  But most of all, they will affect the one making them.  The word scoff here is very descriptive.  It is the Hebrew word "lits" and it means to deride, to make a mockery. an to scorn.  What is being scoffed at is God's wisdom and ways.  The one who hears God's wisdom here is laughing at it - mocking it - and deriding it as utterly useless.  He is not just refusing it - he is making fun of it.  This one will, in the end, bear the consequences of his own actions and attitudes.  The term bear here gives a picture of someone who is putting a load on themselves.  As they reject God's Word - they are just adding to the burden of their sin - and the burden of their ungodly lifestyle.  They alone will have to carry the load they are adding to with their mocking.  This is even more telling in light of Jesus' own invitation to come to Him and rest - for He promises to make our load easy and our burden light.  Those who resist and mock Him will have as a consequence the increased burden of their sin and rebellion - and they alone will have to carry it.

We have a choice every day in Christ.  We have a choice to learn from and benefit due to God's wisdom.  We can be wise with a wisdom from God - and experience the beneifts of it ourselves.  It requires a choice to fear God - distrust self and this world's wisdom.  But in the end its blessings far outweigh its liabilities.  The other choice is to mock and deride God's wisdom - choosing instead the wisdom of this present world and of our own thinking.  The end of that way will be carried by the one who scoffs.  Oh, and one other thing to remember.  There is a way that seems right unto a man, but that way ends in death.