Month: January 2023

25
Jan
2023

Valuable Words

As we continue our study of Proverbs, let us revisit the definition of wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to navigate life. Everyone is navigating life. The question is how are we navigating life? The remainder of Proverbs 1 gives us some clues as to how to determine if you are navigating life in a way of wisdom or a way of folly. Every decision we make will affect our lives. We do not realize or think about how each decision will impact the decisions we make in the future.

We all understand this when it comes to what we eat, at least I think we do.  If you eat 1 doughnut every day, that does not seem to be that big of a deal, but that 1 doughnut provides no nutritional value and adds calories that our body has to burn. Pretty soon we will have added 20 pounds to our body and our joints will wear out sooner and our cholesterol will be elevated. One doughnut seems like no big deal, but over time that choice will affect our future health.

Wisdom

How we navigate life – WISDOM – is made up of tiny little choices that we make every day.

My last two blogs (To Know and Receive Wisdom and Fear God or Foolishness) gave us an introduction to Proverbs. The remainder of Proverbs chapter one I have condensed into two different lists. The two lists are the way of wisdom and the foolishness.

The first thing on the list is to listen to your father and your mother’s teaching. The book of Proverbs is addressed to a “son” of Solomon. The word “son” is used 55 times in the book of Proverbs. The word “Father” is used 26 times and the word “Mother” is used 14 times.

Solomon is trying to tell his son and also all of those that have come after him that read the book of Proverbs that the most important thing we can do in order to be wise and navigate life in a way that is wise is to listen as children to our parents and to their teaching.

Listen

Why should a child listen to their parents? God gave each parent the child/children that He knew would need those parents. I could have had any number of parents and yet God chose the parents that he knew that I needed. He chose the parents that He knew you needed as well. He chose the children you have to be your children.

1. Lived Life

Since God chose these particular people to be our parents, there must be a reason or two. The first reason is that each of our parents have lived life longer than we have. They have made decisions, both good and bad decisions, and they want to be sure that you learn from them so you do not make the same poor choices that have hurt them or you make the same godly choices that have helped them.

2. Know Us

The second reason that we need to listen to our parents is because they know us. Just as God knows everything about us, He has given us parents that know us. They know what we like and what we don’t like. They know our strengths and our weaknesses. They have walked through every day of life with us so they know and share the memories that we have.

Whenever there is a choice to make, we should consult our parents and include them in our decisions. As we age, we begin to make decisions on our own because we have been practicing with our parents how to navigate life –WISDOM- in a way that is honoring God.

Our parents have sacrificed so much for us. I have sacrificed so much for my kids, and I would do it all over again. Parents have done so much to invest in the lives of their kids. Why would we not want their input and words of wisdom in our lives? Why would we shy away from their advice?

If we do shy away from their advice, what is our reasoning? Do we shy away from their advice, because it contradicts what we want? We must ask ourselves, why does it contradict?

As we continue the study the book of Proverbs, we will delve into these ideas in future blog posts. For now, consider with me how valuable your parents are and how valuable the words they want to share with you are.

Proverbs 1:8 “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching”

 

I have also kept the list in this post of what we see in someone that is wise and someone that is foolish from Proverbs 1.

 

Wise

Hear your father’s instruction

Do not forsake your mother’s teaching

Does not consent to enticement by sinners/foolish

Does not walk in the way with the foolish

Wisdom cries aloud the truth

Dwell secure

Easier life in the end because of the difficult choice to listen to wisdom in the beginning

Does not dread what is to come

Foolish

Entice others

Looks for ways to ambush the innocent –manipulates others

Looks for ways to take from others

Manipulates them into thinking that they will split all things (v. 14)

Runs to evil

Greedy

Takes from others unjustly

Simple

Scoff at the truth

Hate knowledge

Refuses to listen

Ignores wisdom’s counsel

Calamity will strike

Will be distressed and anguished

Hate knowledge

Did not choose the fear of the Lord

They will get what is coming to them because of their foolish choices

Complacent

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18
Jan
2023

Fear God or Foolishness

The theme of the book of Proverbs is generally agreed to be Proverbs 1:7.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

There are 2 groups of people in this verse. Those that fear the Lord and those that do not.  I understand things so much better if I break them down into a list and sometimes I need a picture to also help me illustrate the point. Let’s make a list out of this verse.

Fear the Lord

Accept/admire/cherish wisdom

Accept/admire/cherish instruction

Fear the Lord

Beginning of knowledge

Fools

Despise Wisdom

Despise Instriction

Dishonor/scorn/insult the Lord

No Knowledge

In order to fear the Lord, we must first be willing to be humble before the Lord. We have to realize that the answers to life’s most important questions are found in God’s Word. When faced with any decision in life whether big or small, we must seek God through prayer and reading His Word to find answers. When we are not sure what choice we should make, we must seek the counsel of those that are wise.

Since we see that a fool despises wisdom and instruction, we see that the fool is seeking to make themselves happy. They do not want someone to get in the way of their happiness. If they seek the counsel of someone that disagrees with their desires, they will reject their wise counsel.

A fool wants to satisfy their desires for happiness or admiration from others. Maybe they see their way of doing things as an easier way of life. It could be that following the path of wisdom will be hard.

The book of Proverbs is a manual that helps us understand how to live. It helps us understand the character of mankind. What are the characteristics of a wise person? What are the characteristics of a foolish person?

Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs to his son. Solomon had many sons and there is not a specific son that it was written to, but it was written so his children could learn from the wisdom that he had been given by God.  However, we see in I Kings 12 that his son did not learn the wisdom that his father was hoping to pass on to him.

“And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.” (I Kings 11:43). Rehoboam was faced with a decision to lighten the work load that his father had put upon the people or make it heavier. So Rehoboam sought counsel with his father’s advisors and then he sought counsel with the young men who he had grown up with. He listened to his friends rather than the wise counsel from his father’s advisors. The people revolted and Rehoboam feared for his life. This is known as Rehoboam’s folly.

As we seek to become wise people, we need to be sure that the people we spend most of our time with and people we go to for advice are wise. Do these people that I seek advice from cherish instruction? Are they humble?

What do we do when we have conflicting words of advice from different people, or what someone shares with us conflicts with our own desires? What do we do?

  1. Go back to God’s Word
  2. Pray
  3. Be sure that the people you are seeking advice from are godly

If we make a decision that is in contradiction to God’s Word, it is not a wise choice. Just because something feels right doesn’t make it right. Eating a quart of ice cream in one sitting feels good, but is it wise? We cannot make a decision based on our feelings. They will change. We must make our decisions based on the solid truth of Scripture.

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11
Jan
2023

To Know and Receive Wisdom

I have been reading the book of Proverbs every day for many years. I know that I have been reading one chapter a day for as long as we have lived in our current home, so that would be six years. The book of Proverbs was written by Solomon, the wisest of men. God asked Solomon what he wanted, and rather than asking for great riches or great power Solomon asked God for wisdom. (I Kings 3:5-14).

I have been reading the book of Proverbs along with other books of the Bible desiring to become wise. I ask God so often to give me wisdom, and yet I still feel so foolish. I know there is still so much more for me to learn and know. There is so much more for me to understand. One of the things that I do know is that I learn best by studying and then teaching what I learn to others.

It has been a while since I have consistently written my blog. Part of me has not known what to write about, and part of me decided that I was too busy. We will know as time goes by if this will continue to be a priority, or if it will fall by the wayside. So many things I enjoy doing and that clamor for my time.

Please, begin this study of Proverbs with me through this blog. I want to learn out loud if you will. As I learn and share the way of wisdom that God is teaching me, won’t you come along with me and learn.

The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, King 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” (Proverbs 1:1-4)

 

The first thing I notice as I look at these verses is how each verse starts: to know, to receive, to give.

In order to give, we must first know and receive. The purpose of Proverbs is to become wise. I am pretty sure not too many people walk around saying, “I want to be a fool.” Most people would willingly admit that they want to be wise.

What is the requirements for being wise? “To know and to receive.” Before we can give out wisdom, we must be humble and respectful and willing to take in wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

How do we become wise? By listening. As we read through the book of Proverbs, the word listen or hear is used 30 times. There are other words that the author also uses that would indicate we need to be listening such as “receive” or be “attentive.”

The point that Solomon wants us to take with us from the book of Proverbs is that we need to listen to those that are wise. We need to willingly receive instruction from those who are wise. We cannot give knowledge and prudence (discernment) to others if we ourselves do not possess wisdom.

As I have gone through various situations in life, I seek to gain wisdom and prudence from those that have traveled the path of life before me. I diligently search God’s Word for answers to how to navigate difficult situations. I seek to have wise people in my life so that I can talk with them and ask them for direction. I spend much time in prayer seeking the Giver of perfect wisdom to discern how to handle a situation or navigate a difficult decision.

So when you are faced with a choice, no matter how great or how small, where do you turn?

As some of you may know, one of the things that I do is provide Biblical Counseling to others. I went through the requirements to become a certified Biblical Counselor. I was talking with one of my counselees this morning and she shared with me how important my encouragement to her to read God’s Word every day was. She said it has been so helpful in her life.

Are you reading God’s Word every day seeking to gain wisdom in the many situations you will face today? Start your day off with reading the book that God gave us so we know how to live in the way of wisdom and not the way of folly. This is the way “to know and to receive wisdom and instruction.”

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 4 comments