READ: Proverbs 2
BACKGROUND: This chapter deals with pragmatic, moral benefits of wisdom.
By Verse:
1 – This repeats the idea of Psalm 1 (and many other places) that storing up God’s word within you is an incredibly important part of a wise and righteous life.
4 – Job 28:12 also compares searching for wisdom to mining for silver. What would it look like in our lives if we passionately pursued wisdom the way we do material gain?
9 – If we truly know the Lord and we’ve sought his wisdom, we’ll know the right path to choose at every twist and turn of life.
12-19 – The world will continually try to entice us to leave God’s path and seek after foolish pleasures. Wisdom will help us avoid making this mistake.
21-22 – Israel was promised the land, but God made it clear that their disobedience could result in the removal of the Promised Land from them. Sadly, it happened.
THINK: Today I got in a Facebook fight with my brother. This happens frequently enough that I sometimes worry whether other people who see our posts will begin to think that we don’t get along or that we dislike each other – which couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is, we both find Facebook fights humorous and amusing. But today’s fight was totally his fault. He posted about tacos and used the phrase “Me and Diana…” when he very clearly ought to have used “Diana and I…” As a loving, caring, kind, wonderful, gracious, etc. older brother I gently corrected him in a comment on his post. He promptly texted me to inform me that he was going to delete my comment. Then he deleted my comment. So I posted it again. And things devolved from there. 🙂 But it struck me, while reading Proverbs 2, that grammar was not my brother’s only faux pas tonight. He also failed to exhibit a teachable spirit. Instead of thankfully accepting the correction that was offered, he turned defensive and even spiteful while refusing to admit his mistake.
I think it’s really easy for all of us to do that. It’s so easy to develop a spirit that just isn’t teachable – to believe that we know it all or that we have it all together or that we don’t need help or instruction. And this is fairly harmless in a ridiculous Facebook faceoff, but in life it can be crippling. When our pride and self-righteousness leave us in a place where we’re unwilling to learn – and not only that but to seek after learning and actively pursue teaching and correction – then our growth is stunted and our potential is left undeveloped. This happens spiritually when we don’t actively seek teaching and correction and wisdom by reading the Bible.
The Sacramento Bee tells the story of Kevin Severin and his son Aiden, then 7 years-old, who committed in 2008 to spend at least 15 minutes every day of the year searching for treasure together. No matter what the weather, they went out and searched each day, and by the end of the year they’d found random items worth over $1,000. Not only that, but they had spent a ton of time enjoying each other’s company and having fun together.
What would it look like for us to develop the kind of humble, teachable spirits that lead us to spend 15 minutes every day in God’s Word? If we seek after wisdom the way that we seek after other things and if we allow God’s Word to penetrate our hearts, then we will grow and we will be transformed into the image of Christ!
ASK: Where, in the busyness of my schedule, can I make regular time for seeking after God and learning from his Word? How can I develop a teachable spirit?
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