First, a personal note of thanks to
those of you who prayed for my son-in-law—He is now home and seemingly on the
road to a full recovery, though he still has a road of rehab ahead of him.
Now to continue on our search for
nuggets from Proverbs that I think are especially relevant to these end times
in which we live. In this section of verses
“wisdom” is personified, and the Holy Spirit speaks through her to give us
special words of counsel.
Proverbs 8:12–14 “I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out
knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and
arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine,
and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.”
I liked the wording of the Bible in
Basic English for verse 12: “I, wisdom, have made wise behavior my near
relation; I am seen to be the special friend of wise purposes.”
Each one of us who claim the name of
Jesus as Savior should be able to substitute our own name for the word “wisdom”
in the above translation. The Hebrew for
the word prudence makes reference to discretion. We should use cautiousness and discretion
when making choices concerning how best to live our lives in service before the
Lord. If we will take the time to
utilize what we know with thoughtfulness and care, our testimony will be so
much more effective. Such thoughtfulness
will help us avoid “foot in mouth” disease and will help guard our testimony as
we witness to the lost.
Wisdom also declares that those who
fear the Lord will hate evil. This goes
hand-in-hand with a previous post from chapter 6, verses 16-19. I think it is significant to note that again
“pride” is first on the list. I know I
usually think of pride and arrogance as interchangeable; but according to
Webster, “arrogancy” is the type of pride that focuses on self-importance. “The evil way” makes reference to a course of
life or mode of action; in other words, a life that is totally characterized by
evil. A “forward mouth” makes reference
to speech that is willfully erring, wicked, and stubborn. As an American, my thoughts cannot help but
turn to the actions of both political candidates and the media and how so many
of them act in pride and arrogance and do not hesitate to employ lies to
advance their own agenda. Christians are
supposed to stand out as lights in this world that glorify God and to live so
as to be recognized as distinct from the ways of the world.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Romans 12:1–3 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but
be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Click on pic for larger size
No comments:
Post a Comment