Proverbs Chapter 2
1. My son, if you accept my words and treat my commands as treasures
2. So that you pay attention with your ear to wisdom and bend your heart to understanding
3. If you say “YES!” to discernment, and call out with your voice for understanding
4. If you seek her like silver and search for her like precious treasures
5. Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Treasure
What do you treasure?
What do you do with treasure?
I’ve seen some houses with safes (isn’t that a funny name? Have you ever thought about the fact that safe is an adjective, but we’ve made it a noun?). In the safe they’ll put the more valuable things to them. Some may keep deeds and jewels, and cash. Some will rent a safety deposit box in a bank for added security for the things they treasure. But the Bible doesn’t encourage this kind of activity.
In the parables Jesus often refered to treasures, and taught we must invest them and make them grow. A wealthy man gave bags of gold to servants and went on a journey. When he returned he expected his investment back with interest, and he rewarded those who multiplied what was given, and punished the one who simply put his treasure in a safe deposit box (Matthew 25). Solomon tells his son that wisdom is a treasure. It should first be sought, then treated like any other treasure and used to multiply more treasure.
Will/Purpose
Pay Attention! Bend your heart. Say “Yes!” Call out! Seek! The person who wants to become more wise must actively pursue wisdom. You have to apply your will to grow in spiritual wisdom. It doesn’t come naturally. And, almost like a love song, Solomon begins his proverbs in Chapter 1 with Lady Wisdom calling out to those who will listen (most will not). Here he exhorts his son to call out to her, to seek her, to treasure her. The Bible is full of in-love metaphors and similes. This is another. The love of wisdom-in Greek philosophy, Philo-Sophia, love, friendship, intimacy with wisdom. Just like two people in love pursue each other and can’t get enough of each other, and have arguments and disagreements and still can’t stay away from each other, Lady Wisdom calls out to her lover. She is waiting for her lover to call back to her. It’s as if she is singing a duet, but singing alone, till the voice that fills in what’s missing joins in. Wisdom is useless if not treasured and embraced by people. And people are never quite complete without wisdom. Like a Lover pursuing the Beloved, we have to pursue wisdom. If we will, God’s Spirit will breathe into us wonders we would never imagine without His input.
Prayer for Today
Father
We want Your wisdom, the wisdom You used to form the stars and galaxies. Teach us to guide the earth in its course. Teach us to lead our own (Your) lives well. Lead us to the straight and narrow path that leads to Life, that leads to You-that path so few find.
We humble ourselves before You and ask.
Please,
Lord
Give us Your Spirit, Your Word, Your Will, Your guidance for today and every day
In the name of the One who walked in wisdom, the Spirit of Wisdom, Jesus
Amen
Proverbs 2:6
For God gives wisdom—His mouth knowledge and understanding 7. He reserves discernment, a shield to those who walk in integrity. 8 He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of His faithful ones.
The Loving Guard
Please forgive me if I seem to be beating a dead horse. But this is, again, the language of deep abiding affection, love, care, and nurture. God gives wisdom out of His mouth-you have to be near Him to get it. You have to be listening. As Jesus said “Anyone who has an ear, let him hear”. Then the other verbs associated with God’s actions-He reserves a shield, He guards, He preserves-are all associated with protection. God is interested in the safety of His Beloved. His wisdom is designed to make us and our lives better, and to prevent us from experiencing harm or loss.
Unwanted Holidays
We once again had an unscheduled holiday on Monday. One political party decided it would be best, somehow, for their constituency to have a day without work, with businesses closed, with schools out of session, to express a few points of disagreement with their political opponents. The government closed state schools & gave private colleges (like ours) a choice. As the Faculty deliberated about the pros and cons, they felt another day missed was not good, and that we should have classes as scheduled, but that if there was any hint that our students would be at risk, we should cancel classes. At first it seemed there would be no increased risk (going out on the streets of Bangalore is ALWAYS a risk). But by around midnight more news came in that made it seem there may be trouble in the form of violence against those who didn’t observe the Bandh (strike). So we cancelled. It was not a difficult decision. Training our students is our first priority. Protecting them is a primal instinct.
Yesterday was 9/11, a day when the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon killed over 3,000 people. It’s a day when those who lost their lives are honoured; more than that, we think of those who risked their lives saving others in the horrors that followed the attacks, and the entire airplane of people who sacrificed their lives to down a plane that may have hit the White House or Congress. Those who protect deserve special honour.
Today over one and a half million people are expected to evacuate the Carolinas and Virginia in the US in preparation for the arrival of hurricane Florence, a Category 4 expected to drop as much as two feet of rain and cause storm surges of 9-13 feet higher than the usual water level in costal areas. The government is encouraging the evacuation to protect the lives of those who live in the area.
God is like that.
He is the police officer running toward the sound of shots, the fireman running into the flames while everyone else is running away, and the one laying down His life so others can live. His Wisdom is designed to protect and serve us-to teach us to avoid those terrors that would otherwise overwhelm us. His word is, as the Psalmist said, a lamp for our feet and a light for our path, illuminating those obstacles that could trip and destroy us.
Prayer for Today
Dear Father,
You are the great Protector, the One always concerned for our safety and wellbeing.
Teach us to honour Your word-to learn from Your teachings, to apply Your wisdom to our lives.
Grant us wisdom, Father, to always turn to You and Your word in times of decision and stress.
Grant us the grace to follow Your instructions that we might live.
In the name of our Lord Jesus
Amen
