Prayer
Heavenly Father, I give you thanks for this new day of life, all praise to you for your preserving grace in my life. I thank you for your patience with me, and for the many ways in which you have protected and preserved me when I would have rushed headlong in to sin. Thank you that you have been such a good and kind God to me. Lord, as I embark upon these studies into your word – in to the Book of Proverbs – I pray O Lord, please give me wisdom, as you have said you will give wisdom unto all who ask. O Lord, I sense and feel my need in this, my profound lack of wisdom. My need is great, and so I pray, please give unto me wisdom through the ministry of your word in my soul. Lord God, that I may live wisely as my Lord did when he lived here as a man, that I may image him. Lord, hear my desperate prayer and answer, in Jesus’ name I pray, and for the sake of your great name, Amen.
Reading
Proverbs 1:1-7
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Meditation
Do you want to be an exceptional person? Not exceptional in a self-reliant sense, but exceptional in the grace and wisdom of God? At the end of your life, what do you want to look back at and see? Think, for a moment, about those who have gone before us. Would you rather be a Noah? Or one of the nameless number who died in the flood? Would you rather be a Caleb or a Gaddiel? I know what you’re thinking: “Who in the world was Gaddiel?” Gaddiel was one of the 10 spies that Moses sent in to scout out the promised land. He was one of the ten who came back and told the people of Israel not to obey God. Caleb, on other hand, along with Joshua, had called the people to obedience and to go in and take possession of the land. The sin of Gaddiel and the other nine spies resulted in disobedience on the part of Israel as a whole, and by extension a further 40 years of wandering in wilderness. So, who would you rather be? Caleb or Gaddiel?
In the grand scheme of history, each one of us has only a very small part to play. Even the most influential and greatest of people play only a tiny part. Thousands of people were converted under the preaching ministry of George Whitefield, but the span and influence of his life is but a tiny speck in the grand scheme of God’s plan in history. Nevertheless, our lives are not nothing, they are significant, for the Lord himself has made them to be so. Our labour unto the Lord is not in vain, and so we come back to our original question: When you look back on your life, what is it that you want to see? Do you wish to see a faithful investing of what God gave you? Or a wasteful squandering of the gifts you’ve had?
The means for living such a life is wisdom. Leave significance and all questions of earthly glory in the Lord’s hands, they are of no consequence. What will God say of you? Wisdom is a sure path to spiritual and physical maturity. It is a sure path to usefulness in the kingdom of God. You may not have the gifts of a Whitefield, it doesn’t matter. You may have been entrusted with very humble gifts and opportunities. That doesn’t matter either. What matters is whether or not you have been faithful with what you have been given. You will need wisdom to do that.
Be ye doers of the word…
Living a life of faithfulness will not happen by accident. Living a life of integrity is not something one cruises into casually and without effort. In Matthew 11:12 we read: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” Now I used that word “exceptional” in my original question, but it’s slightly misleading, because in a real sense being exceptional ought not to be an exceptional thing at all, but rather the norm. The normal Christian life should be one of wisdom, integrity, and significance (in God’s eyes) to the glory of God. But I do also say “exceptional” for good reason, for it is folly and mediocrity in our age that seem to be the norm. In that sense, true and mature godliness and wisdom is very exceptional.
Getting wisdom is possible, and thus the question is not “Can we?”, but: “How can we?” How can we live such a life? A life distinguished by faithful and consistent wisdom and service toward others? How can we live in such a way that, when the end comes, we will be able to look back on a life well-lived to the glory of God and by the grace of God? Please take a moment now, and go and read these two passages: Proverbs 1:20-27, and Proverbs 2:1-15. Read those passages closely, and read them well – you will find an answer to our question. Can we get wisdom? Yes! And a thousand times “yes”. Please don’t skip on by – do read those passages!
The value of studying the Book of Proverbs is unquestionable. Proverbs 3:13-18 is another passage that shows this: “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold… She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.” This is the exceptional life that we’ve been speaking of, but here’s the thing: getting wisdom will not happen by accident. No, we must pursue and gain wisdom intentionally. Let me put it this way, if we would live lives of mediocrity, we should set ourselves to neglect and ignore the getting of wisdom. If, on the other hand, we would live exceptional lives of godliness – wisdom is a must. We need to make the Book of Proverbs our own, to hide it in our hearts and own it in our lives. In each study of this book, then, that will be our aim: to get wisdom. And take that, too, as an “application” – make it your aim to get wisdom as you study this book. Resolve now to follow through fully on these studies, don’t stop reading until you are done! SDG.
Prayer of Confession & Consecration
Lord God Almighty, my desire is to be like you. To be a shining human reflection of your infinite excellencies and glory. But Lord, this is not something I can accomplish. If I was left to my own strength and resources, I would utterly fail. Worse, I would bring shame to your name and become a monstrosity of sin among men. O Lord, I cry out for wisdom. Hear my cry, O Lord, as I read and study this book – please – give me the gift of wisdom. I may not attain to the wisdom of Solomon, but please make me to be the second wisest man who ever lived! O Lord, for the sake of the glory of your name I ask this. Look upon me, I pray, and be merciful to me, O Lord, according to your unfailing love. Hear my prayer, O Lord, in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Wisdom Wednesdays: The Exceptional Life (WW#1).