January 19, 2023
Scripture: Proverbs 3:21-22 – “My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.”
What it means
It makes sense that Solomon would be a huge proponent of wisdom – that was kind of his calling card, but Solomon found that wisdom carried with it great advantages in the spiritual realm as well. This entire 3rd chapter of Proverbs is so rich – you’re probably familiar with verses 5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”, and along the same lines, skipping down to verses 21-22, we are implored to not let wisdom and understanding out of our sight…it is that important. Why is that? Read on - “they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.” So, we need to treasure wisdom, and not just wisdom that we are able to summon up on our own, but the wisdom that comes from God. Look again at verse 5 – “lean not on your own understanding.”
What it means to me
We all want to be wise in some fashion, don’t we? We all like to think that we have some knowledge in our particular field of work, or maybe even something that we dabble in as a hobby…it shows that when we speak, people will have some level of comfort that we can be trusted in what we say having merit. However, if it comes down to having great human wisdom and wisdom that comes from above, opt for door #2 every time. As Solomon struggled quite a bit down the home stretch of his life with a few too many wives and concubines and idolatry, he was relying on wisdom that definitely didn’t come from God – and it cost him greatly. He paid a big price, and at the very end, I suspect he began to know the difference between the two. For you and I today, let’s ask God for not just wisdom, but wisdom that comes from Him – it’ll make Him happy and bring a smile to His face.
Love you guys, see you in church on Sunday!
In Christ,
Brian