proverbs 2

Read Proverbs 2 at Bible Gateway.

For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Pro 2:6

Wisdom is a greatly desirable thing, because wisdom shields, preserves, protects, keeps, and delivers the one who is wise from evil, from the deceptions of ungodly men and women, and from making mistakes in their choices. How much is that worth, if throughout our life we are protected from the strategies, traps, and snares of the evil one, from the influence of ungodliness, and from making mistakes in the decisions that face us in life? It is impossible to put a price tag on it.

Wisdom is contained in words (vs. 1-2), but not just any words: in the Word of God. The LORD gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. We need to practice hearing the voice of the LORD every day, but the words the LORD has voiced have already been written down in the Bible. We can and must begin and end by applying our heart and mind to learning what the LORD has already said. Nothing He says today is going to contradict that.

Our hearts need to be open to the teaching, instruction, and commands contained in the Word of the LORD. A wise and successful counselor will always have one counsel: We need to find out what the Word says, and do that. When that is our counsel, we quickly discover there are two kinds of believers out there: those who accept God’s Word and seek to apply it, and those who argue with the solution the Word presents, who are looking for the loophole, and who would like to make their situation the exception that the Word does not apply to. The first person is wise, and the second person is a fool, even if they are of the household of faith.

The solution the Word presents is not always the easy way, it is often the hardest way, and that is why some people balk at it. For example, if someone wants to prosper in their finances, we discover from the Word that honesty in all our dealings is a necessary prerequisite that fulfills the command, Do not steal. God will not prosper the finances of a thief. And by thief, we need to take His definition of a thief and not ours. A thief is anyone who takes anything that belongs to someone else. How small the theft does not matter.

So the Word says, if you have stolen, you need to make restitution, and restore what you have stolen and add 20% to it. Well, if someone were to start adding up the amount that they have stolen throughout their life in an attempt to make restitution, and adding 20%, it might come out to a large amount. Paying back a large amount when everyone else has forgotten about it or maybe never even knew about it is a hard thing, but that is the way of the LORD and the way of wisdom. That is the way of someone who is seeking wisdom, whose heart treasures the LORD’s commands within them. That person will receive that word and seek to apply it.

So to we have to have a heart change, first, that says, no matter what I discover the Word of God says to do, no matter how hard it is, I am going to do it. I am going to live my life by it. Along with that, we need to seek His Word and cry out for it. If you were looking for something important, how much time and attention would you give to it? What if you didn’t have a job and needed one? Seeking a job would become the focus of your life until you found one.

In the parable of the ten virgins, who are waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom (the return of Yeshua), five were wise and five were foolish. Five were prepared and five weren’t. That is 50% of believers the parable was talking about. A couple of years ago, Barna research group came out with some surprising new poll stats: When asked self- identified evangelical Christians if they read the Bible, it turns out only 50% do. 50% are wise, and 50% are foolish, just like the parable.

Isn’t God good, that we get to choose which group we want to be in? It is up to us. If we want to be counted among the wise, then we need to begin to make the words of the LORD’s mouth the treasure of our hearts, and the give them the daily attention of our minds.