At Home with Wisdom
Opening Prayer
Ask God for insights into the areas where you need to make decisions today. Commit to following his ways.
Read Proverbs 9:1-9
[1] Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. [2] She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. [3] She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city, [4] “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, [5] “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. [6] Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.” [7] Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. [8] Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. [9] Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What does wisdom offer?According to the common way of thinking, it is living by worldliness that offers us the things we like–fun, freedom, pleasure, excitement, rewards. Godliness supposedly withholds good things from us, being austere, restrictive and grim. How wrong that perspective is! Look at the lavish offerings of Wisdom in today’s passage. If we accept her invitation to come to her and live by God’s truth, she puts out not crumbs but a feast! It is, in fact, Lady Wisdom’s opposite–Lady Folly–who advertises enticements that in the end prove to deceive, disappoint, and destroy her victims (cf. Prov. 9:13-18). Wisdom leads to an abundance of spiritual riches. It protects from harm. It gives peace and satisfaction. It preserves relationships and establishes a good reputation. It teaches discernment. It helps us build our lives on a foundation that will last. So make sure that the words you listen to are the trustworthy offerings of Wisdom, not the lying claims of Folly. Only in Wisdom’s house (1) will you find life.
Apply
Take stock of the benefits that have accrued to you when you have followed godly wisdom in the past.
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to recognize today where the good things You intend for me are truly to be found.
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