Wisdom for the Ages: Embrace the Fullness of God’s Wisdom. Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Sunday, February 11, 2018
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“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, And knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, Understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, From the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, To walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, And they froward in their paths:” (Proverbs 2:10–15)
The Attractiveness of Holy Wisdom
Yesterday, we scratched the surface of verse 10, and yet even in surface reading, we discovered something marvelous. We discovered that those who embrace wisdom also embrace God. Those who embrace wisdom and God also find godly knowledge to be as attractive as a sanctified married couple should find one another. Holiness is attractive. We are going to continue building on the theme with five more verses. Let’s go!
The Bible says that those who embrace wisdom, God, and godly knowledge will have discretion to protect us. Discretion here is a powerful word. It means the power and knowledge to take the right course of action in, get this, all situations.
As if that weren’t enough, there’s more! Not only will this godly discretion be a guide in all things, but also will protect such a person from all harm and negative consequences of bad decisions.
Let me be clear, this insurance policy is in play as long as love for God, wisdom, knowledge, and discretion are in play, which create the right choices, which do not carry negative consequences.
This is not pie in the sky, by the way. I am not saying that no trials or tribulations will devolve upon those who embrace all that is godly. That would be contrary to Scripture. We can indeed expect persecution just like the stalwarts that were before us. However, these persecutions are not as a function of our indiscreet choices. Remember, we have insurance against those.
The Road (Hopefully) Less Traveled
Here is the point, in context of our theme passage. The way of the wicked is hard, because it separates them from God, and brings both temporal and eternal consequences. Those who rejoice in wickedness and delight in doing evil can only expect the natural outcome of such consistently bad choices.
God is good! He has not relegated anyone to such a fate. No! You will recall the entreaty of wisdom we have already discussed from the following verses, which provide the hope and promise we all need to get on track with God: “My child, if you receive my words, and store up my commands within you, by making your ear attentive to wisdom, and by turning your heart to understanding, indeed, if you call out for discernment— raise your voice for understanding— if you seek it like silver, and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand how to fear the Lord, and you will discover knowledge about God ” (Proverbs 2:1–5, NET).
Therefore, as I said yesterday, I ask you to seek the wisdom of our God today. Let it, (let Him) abide within you fully. For it is as we embrace the fullness of God’s wisdom, that we verily embrace the Almighty Himself (Blessed be His name forever).
A word to the foolish is wasteful. A word to the wise is sufficient.
