The Beginning of Wisdom
Opening Prayer
Come before God, praising him as almighty, wholly holy, perfect in righteousness and judgment.
Read Proverbs 9:10-18
[10] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. [11] For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. [12] If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. [13] Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing. [14] She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, [15] calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, [16] “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, [17] “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” [18] But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. 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
How does wisdom contrast with folly?If you know just one verse from Proverbs, I expect it is this: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (10). The proverbs in this book of the Bible may have had a mixed origin, drawn from here and there into this collection, but what makes them distinct is that from start to finish they point us to God. So wisdom does not begin by adopting some pithy advice about, say, money or family relationships. Rather, it begins with a relationship with God, with a proper respect and worship of him. That is what “fear” means: treating God as God and not simply as a divine form of your best friend. The alternative to accepting the feast of God’s wisdom (as we saw yesterday) is to settle for a grubby little meal offered up by a dubious woman called Folly. She’s loud and ignorant (13), and the house she invites people into is actually a tomb full of the dead (18). But despite all this, the foolish seem to find her attractive enough. Hers is a house all too many enter, swapping the riches of a palace for the grime of a brothel. Spurn Folly’s advances. Draw close to the God who is perfect in every respect and yet invites intimacy with you through Christ.
Apply
What do your actions say about how you view God? What should you do differently if you “fear” him?
Closing prayer
God, help me today to distinguish between wisdom and folly and to live my life to the glory of Jesus Christ.
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