Wisdom is Calling . . . Are We Listening? Proverbs 8:1-3

Does not wisdom call, And understanding lift up her voice?  On top of the heights beside the way, Where the paths meet, she takes her stand; Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out . . .  Proverbs 8:1-3

Here is a comforting passage dealing with wisdom and where it is available.  Proverbs eight personifies wisdom as if wisdom was calling out to men.  The fact is that Wisdom is personified - because Jesus Christ is to us . . . Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30).  This passage does not speak of Jesus as wisdom, though, because wisdom is spoken of as a woman.  Thus, what we have here is God offering to us the person of wisdom - a wise woman who is calling to us to come and receive her insight - her understanding into the heart of God.  She is calling to us to show us how to walk in this world according to God's wisdom and understanding.

The first thing we see here is that wisdom calls to men.  God does not hide His wisdom from us - He makes it available to us every day.  The idea of wisdom calling is that wisdom is summoning us - inviting us to be educated and taught.  Wisdom joins her voice with that of understanding - who is also lifting her voice above the din of the crowd to be heard by the naive of the world.

They want us to know the heart of God - to know how God views things and sees the world around us.  They want us to grasp how to make decisions in light of God's Word - to discern where God wants us to go - to discern what God wants us to do and what to say.

Here is the comforting fact . . . when God wants to reveal to us His wisdom and understanding it is not in a convent or a monestary - not in a closed room filled with dusty religious books.  Where are wisdom and understanding calling out to us?

On top of the heights beside the way is the first location.  Wisdom is calling to us as we are walking along the way - even in remote locations God wants us to know His wisdom.  This location is further described as being where the "paths meet."  Here is the place of decision in life.  When the paths come together and you need to make a decision - there is wisdom and understanding calling out to you wanting to be revealed to you so that you can make a godly decision.  What is interesting here is that the Word tells us that wisdom takes her stand at the place of decision.  How often have you faced a decision - you were at a crossroads - and you just wished that you knew what God thought about it?  What we learn from this verse of Scripture is that God is there - that His wisdom is there calling to us, wanting us to know the heart of God and the direction He wants us to take. 

Why would wisdom "take her stand" at the place of decision?  Because she is not the only one awaiting the moment when we are about to make a decision.  The world would love to help us make our decisions - as would our flesh and the devil.  Things would be much easier if the world was not in a fallen condition.  We would not have an opponent in the devil who desires for us to follow his will ratrher than God's will.  We would not have a world system dominated by the devil that sends us messages contrary to God's will.  We would not have a fallen nature that thinks contrary to God's ways - and is unwilling to submit itself to God.  Yes, things would be much easier if man had not fallen.  But . . . man did choose to rebel against God - and therefore we need for wisdom to take her stand at points of decision in our lives. 

The last place that is mentioned in this message to us about wisdom's call is the gate of the city.  Why is that singled out for us?  It is because the gates of the city were the place where the elders and leaders would meet to make decisions.  It is equivilent to the political arena today.  The elders, the wise men of the city met there to make decisions that would affect the entire city.  As they sat there discussing the issues of the city and the situations where wisdom was needed - they would be entrusted to make the kind of decisions that would work for the best interests of everyone who lived there. 

What a blessed place our world becomes when our leaders are filled with the wisdom and understanding of God.  We saw what happened when our forefathers put our government together with careful thought and consideration for future generations.  They made decisions to pit the three branches of government against one another so that one branch would not try to consolidate power to itself.  The reason they did this is because they recognized the fallen nature of man - and how when invested with too much power - men are corrupted.  They sought to put a governmental system in place that would represent society and protect it at the same time. 

Just as a nation and city is blessed when wisdom speaks at the gate - society is cursed when wisdom is ignored there.  Unfortunately, we have a system that is broken - not because the system itself is flawed - but because the men and women working within it are more interested in their own future than that of succeeding generations of Americans.  They make decisions that promise whatever the people want - whether what they want is good for them or not.  They craft laws designed to get themselves re-elected - and honestly don't care whether the laws will bring blessing to future generations. 

What we need is to see our elected officials once again far more concerned about he good of the people more than they are concerned about their continued place of power among them.  Until we do - we won't see the kind of wisdom in the gate that will last for generations.  Wisdom and understanding are standing at the place of personal and societal decision.  May God give us ears to hear and a heart turned to what God desires to reveal to us.  Wisdom is calling - I guess the question is, "Are we listening?"