Thursday, March 5, 2015

Reflections on Proverbs 2

 Proverbs 02(Contemporary English Version)
  1. My child, you must follow and treasure my teachings and my instructions.
  2. Keep in tune with wisdom and think what it means to have common sense.
  3. Beg as loud as you can for good common sense.
  4. Search for wisdom as you would search for silver or hidden treasure.
  5. Then you will understand what it means to respect and to know the LORD God.
  6. All wisdom comes from the LORD, and so do common sense and understanding.
  7. God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys him and protects all of those who live as they should.
  8. God sees that justice is done, and he watches over everyone who is faithful to him.
  9. With wisdom you will learn what is right and honest and fair.
  10. Wisdom will control your mind, and you will be pleased with knowledge.
  11. Sound judgment and good sense will watch over you.
  12. Wisdom will protect you from evil schemes and from those liars
  13. who turned from doing good to live in the darkness.
  14. Most of all they enjoy being mean and deceitful.
  15. They are dishonest themselves, and all they do is crooked.
  16. Wisdom will protect you from the smooth talk of a sinful woman,
  17. who breaks her wedding vows and leaves the man she married when she was young.
  18. The road to her house leads down to the dark world of the dead.
  19. Visit her, and you will never find the road to life again.
  20. Follow the example of good people and live an honest life.
  21. If you are honest and innocent, you will keep your land;
  22. if you do wrong and can never be trusted, you will be rooted out.

Wisdom, like other qualities such as joy and happiness, is not attained through direct pursuit. As with joy, it is a byproduct. Wisdom is a byproduct of pursuing God, seeking insight, and directing our hearts to understanding. Wisdom, then, comes as a gift from God in these pursuits.

There is a circular nature to this whole process. We were told in chapter one that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now we are told that if we listen to wisdom, direct our hearts to understanding, and call out to insight, we will come to understand the fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord leads to wisdom and understanding which leads to greater understanding of the fear of the Lord which brings greater wisdom and understanding. But the whole process begins with fear of the Lord.

Along the way, in our pursuit of understanding and insight, we come to understand righteousness and justice and integrity. As we do, wisdom enters our mind. Again, a byproduct, not of intellectual pursuits, but of character pursuits. Along with wisdom will come discretion which will guard us from the way of evil and rescue us from forbidden women which leads to a downward spiral leading to death. It is a path of no return.

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