Read through Proverbs in 31 days, Today’s reading is entitled “Wisdom and Truth Are Offered To All”
Read Proverbs 8 – If you have read Proverbs 8 in the NLT, CEV or GNT translations a noticeable difference from most others may have been obvious – the W in wisdom is capitalized. Many may wonder what this means or why it is important. You may have noticed in the past week of reading that words referring to God and His Word begin with capital letters. That is the case here, Wisdom is referring to Jesus. He is calling out to those who have accepted His free gift of grace. He is even knocking at the door of those who have not accepted Him but are in great need of comfort. Take a minute or so now to read Revelation 3:20 and picture a door with a handle only on the inside. Jesus will knock, but only you can open the door and accept Him. We have excellent points in Proverbs 8 to enforce our focal point for today.
- Wisdom is male while understanding is referenced as female. Understanding is to be taken as the other half of Wisdom.
- Wisdom is calling out to all – foolish and wise, simple and learned. All have the opportunity to accept the important truth.
- Nothing can compare with Wisdom, He is greater than any jewels and precious metals that this world can offer.
- A search and desire for the Wisdom of God will surely result in the most important discovery of your life. The end result of that search will be wisdom, honor, wealth and justice – finer than any riches this world can offer.
- Those who find and believe in Wisdom will be wise, joyful and receiving favor from the Lord. Those who choose the ways of the world love death.
Understanding is the other half of wisdom; what could that mean? We could view this statement with the understanding that the meaning of anything learned in life is useless unless it is applied. It cannot be applied unless you understand its meaning. Hence, without understanding most things are truly useless.
Let’s consider who has an opportunity to gain wisdom in today’s society. Do you know people who have limited funds and would go to college with the proper financial assistance? How about the people who have been abused by the legal system due to inappropriate representation and/or illegitimate interpretation of the law? These could be cases where the affected individual could gain greatly from individual wisdom and understanding. The perspective college student, regardless of age, could research the various grants and loans available while the person slighted by legal maneuvering may decide to study similar cases, outcomes and maybe even more specialized lawyers. Let’s draw some more from society’s approach to the 2020 Covid-19 panic. At this current moment, you can look worldwide for a detailed illustration of the attitude of “those who choose the ways of the world.” Did you choose to avoid crowds? Did you choose to wear a facemask while this virus was prevalent? If so, you have probably made some wise decisions driven by concern for your own health and survival. Did you go to your local grocery store and clean the toilet paper off of the shelves? Hoard meats, eggs and basically everything else? I would go as far as to say that those who participated in this type of behavior were in panic mode. We could probably say that these people do not know God, who will provide peace, protection and even food to His people. We have an extremely applicable quote from “It’s a Wonderful Life” – “Now take during the depression, for instance. You and I were the only ones that kept our heads. You saved the Building and Loan …” Those who believe in God’s Wisdom will be wise, joyful and receive favor from Him.
