31 days of Proverbs (Proverbs 1)

I've been wanting to start a blog for quite some time now. I'm alone with my thoughts for about 10 hours a day, as I work alone, and as A.D.D. as some of you know I am, you can only imaging the utter torment I go through as thought and idea pass between the black hole that is my brain, never to be heard from again.

The most intense periods of learning that I, personally, go through are born through these thoughts. Whether it is spiritual wisdom or earthly discernment is, at times, hard to tell. Only because Satan likes to blur the lines of our own wit and the omniscience of God. The Proverbs do a great job of expressing timeless truths and wisdom, and make simple, moral statements that teach deep-seated realities about life.

John MacArthur once said about the proverbs of Solomon, "...they arrest one's thoughts, causing the reader to reflect on how one might apply divine principles to life situations. Proverbs contains insights both in poetry and prose; yet, at the same time, it includes commands to be obeyed."

Further study on King Solomon show that as he became King, he sought and received wisdom and knowledge from the Lord, which led him to riches, honor, and fame. Solomon came to write these very principles he followed, and they became over half of the book of Proverbs. So not only is the book of Proverbs a book of witty sayings and truthful obedience principals, but it is a book of testimony that if those principals are followed with diligence, it can lead to blessing and spiritual wealth.

The introduction to the book (Proverbs 1:2-7) says:

2 - To know wisdom and instruction,

To perceive the words of

understanding,

3 - To receive the instruction of wisdom,

Justice, judgment, and equity;

4 - To give prudence to the simple,

To the young man knowledge and discretion.

5 - A wise man will hear and increase learning,

And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

6 - To understand a proverb and an enigma,

The words of the wise and their riddles.

7 - The fear of the Lord is the

beginning of knowledge,

But fools despise wisdom and

instruction.

Verses 8-19 warns us against the attraction of sinners if we fail to embrace wisdom; sin must be rejected by even declining the association that can lead to sin. Sinners tempt and entice the innocent in secret, so as not to be exposed. Which leads us to the drastic difference in foolishness and Wisdom. One of the major differences between verses 8-19 (enticement) and the last half of the chapter (20-33, Wisdom in the first person) is that temptation is concealed and hidden, whereas wisdom, with nothing to hide, is available to everyone.

While it is easy to fall into the entrapment of sin, at the same time, Wisdom is not needing to trap or fool you. It's already there shouting, contending for your attention. The proverbs is pointed mainly to the simple, the scorners or mockers, and the fools. But even they can hear what's being shouted. It's that ignorance of wisdom that makes them what they are. As leaders, hearers of wisdom, it is our job to contend with Wisdom against the enticements of evil for those that don't know better for themselves.

God, I ask for ears open to your Wisdom, and a heart that can receive Your words and emotionally bind them to myself. That when Wisdom calls, I am not deceived by lies, and am quick to answer that call. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, Your love, Your mercy, Your forgiveness, and Your gift of everlasting life.

~Amen