365 Reflections

The first 9 chapters of Proverbs repeatedly draws a distinction between wisdom and folly. And in this 9th chapter, we see the difference in an interesting way. Consider first what wisdom does: Proverbs 9:1–6 (ESV) Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. 2 She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, 4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says, 5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 6 Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” Wisdom is marked by industry first and invitation second. Wisdom is prepared for guests and to give instruction. Wisdom is not interested in making a brash announcement. She invites us to what she has prepared for us.  Folly is marked by very different realities. Proverbs 9:13–18 (ESV) The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing...

If you remain foolish it's really your own fault. For one thing scripture makes clear in the book of Proverbs is not only the importance of wisdom but the readiness of wisdom to be found by any who search for it.  Proverbs 8:1–5 (ESV) Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. 5 O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. So far wisdom has been personified as a woman, but now wisdom is not just personified, it is presented as desperate to be found! Wisdom calls out to the streets and to the simple... and the invitation is simple: come and learn.  Then the Proverbs unpacks the enormous benefits of wisdom: Proverbs 8:14–17 (ESV) I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. 15 By me kings reign, and rulers dec...

Proverbs 7:1–5 (ESV) My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; 2 keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; 3 bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend, 5 to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. Amazingly, the Proverbs return to the dangers of a wandering woman who seduces a man into giving his life for a short temporal pleasure. The answer again is to gain and treasure the commands of a father.  One would think that with all of Solomon's dalliances, this warning carried a particularly heavy for him as he delivered it. He obviously knew the dangers of giving your strength to women who would lead your heart away to death.  How do men get themselves into this mess? The Proverb gives us an illustration: Proverbs 7:6–9 (ESV) For at the window of my house I have looked out through my latt...

One of the great things about Proverbs is that it makes no small issue of the very real dangers of life. They are everywhere. Traps await the simple-minded and the fool. If you want to live long and prosper, go to the Proverbs.  Proverbs 6 introduces four sections dealing with these traps in life.  Proverbs 6:1–5 (ESV) My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, 2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, 3 then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. 4 Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; 5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler. The first trap is the trap of legal entanglements. Be quick to get out of those snares which make you liable to another's potential folly. Notice the word, "stranger". It is not wrong to g...

An entire chapter in Proverbs is dedicated to warning the young son against taking the path toward the adulteress. For certain, sexual temptation is always present in our lives but especially when we are young. The physiological realities of our 20-30's are common and so this passage written to young men is vitally important. Let us also consider that this struggle is common to both sexes but in general and throughout history, men have succumbed more often to the temptation of illicit sex. What do we need to know about the forbidden woman?  First, she is a flirt. Her words are "honey". She flatters and taps into the ego of the man. Proverbs 5:1–6 (ESV) My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, 2 that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. 3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, 4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death...

The book of Proverbs is a book written by a father to his sons.  Proverbs 4:1–2 (ESV) Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, 2 for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. The father who wants his sons to succeed imparts wisdom as he received it: Proverbs 4:3–4 (ESV) When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, 4 he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. The entire fourth chapter of Proverbs is an appeal to gain wisdom which underscores just how important it is to make it the aim of one's life.  Proverbs 4:7–8 (ESV) The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. 8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. The way of wisdom is more than protective care over one's life, it is enablement in all of one's endeavors: Proverbs 4:11–13 (ESV) I have taught you the...

Want to experience the LOVE of God? Let Him discipline you.  I know... not the answer you wanted. But it's the answer scripture gives.  Proverbs 3:11–12 (ESV) My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. That word "loves" really strikes me. For we are loved in the discipline God brings into our lives. Notice the word is not "punishment" but "discipline". What is God doing with you? Making you more disciplined.  Discipline is love to us because we don't typically understand what really needs to change in us. We think we do, but we don't. We want external fixes or temporal changes in condition, but God knows what really needs to go for our sanctification and change. And a part of our sanctification is the sanctification of our understanding His process of sanctification.  Discipline is love because God is not letting our foolishness ru...