Proverbial Wisdom: Welcome to Wisdom

 Read Proverbs 1

The book of Proverbs is commonly known and credited to as a book of wisdom.  It normally falls into the classification of one of the books of poetry due to its natural flow, but it is so much more than that.  I’ve always viewed the book of Proverbs as a book of instruction.  One in which we can glean not just wisdom about our God, but about the practical living of life.  

As we look at the first 4 verses of Proverbs 1 that is exactly how Solomon introduces his book.  The purpose of God inspired Solomon to write Proverbs was to give us wisdom and instruction on matters of justice, judgment, equity, prudence, and discretion.  

Verses 5 and 6 are a very important task that many folks fail to do today and I know I struggled with this for a very long time.  God tells us in these verses that a wise person is on who can learn.  A wise person is not one who assumes they are right all the time but is one who seeks correction and instruction.  A wise man will know that learning never ends.

Verse 7 tells us the foundation of all wisdom, fearing the Lord.  Now, let’s define what that means.  To fear the Lord is to have a healthy respect for God’s sovereignty.  It’s to understand that God is just and holy.  It’s the kind of healthy fear that one has when fearing negative consequences when something is done wrong.  Now, this isn’t a crippling fear because we understand that God shows His children grace, but it is a driving fear for us to live our lives in obedience to Christ.  We should fear the discipline that will come because God does discipline His children.  That is the kind of fear that the Bible is talking about.  When we have that kind of reverent fear for God, it is the foundation for us to learn because we will learn by both our mistakes and by His Word.

Verses 8 and 9 are basically reminders from the commandment with a promise, the 5th commandment to honor our mother and father.  When we were young, we didn’t think our folks were that intelligent.  We thought they were disconnected and had no idea what was going on in our lives.  It’s not until we get older that we realize how wise our parents are.  God was telling us this from day one.

God follows up in verses 10-19 some very familiar device that many of us have probably even gleaned from our parents.  We should be wise in whom we call our friends and who we spend our time with.  We can easily be ensnared into sin and we can definitely be influenced by peer pressure.  When we “go with the crowd” and compromise our beliefs, it will always turn to destruction.  Again, God will forgive us of our sins but that does not stop us from having to pay the consequences.  

Verses 20-33 is a desperate call for wisdom.  It’s actually pretty sad to read because it’s a stark reminder of where we have been in our lives at times.  God is basically sitting back saying, I’ve been begging you to get ready for these situations, but you will not do them.  This portion of chapter one convicts us of the times when we think we know better or that we know enough to do a certain task but in reality we are just being prideful.  God wants us to tear down our pride, to be fearful unto Him, and respect our elders.  Those things are the foundation and a great beginning towards the wisdom of God.

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