Blessed Contrast
Throughout
the whole day yesterday my thoughts lingered again and again on the rich truth
that was mined in Proverbs 7. Thus, the
words of that passage were fresh in my mind as I began to read about wisdom
today. Immediately a contrast jumped out
at me. Do you remember where the
adulterer was said to hang out in yesterday’s reading?
The
correct answer is: lying in wait at every street corner.
Where is
it that Proverbs 8 says wisdom hangs out?
The
correct answer is: at the crossroads by the front gate.
Contrast
those two descriptions in your mind.
Adultery lies in wait everywhere.
Wisdom stands in the open and pronounces her righteousness. Oh how many paces can we go just by comparing
these two images!
However,
here’s the first place my mind went.
Adultery comes like a predator stalking its prey. It’s everywhere. As soon as we let our guard down it is upon
us and sinking its claws into us. It
comes to us when we drop our defenses for one reason or another. On the other hand, we must go to wisdom. We must pursue wisdom – although she’s not
hard to find because we know where to find her.
We don’t have to worry about our defenses because it is we who go to her
and not she who stalks us with an unknown agenda. Unlike with the adulterer who takes advantage
of our weakness, it is our move to seek after wisdom.
Extrapolate
this back into the broad world of the analogy.
Compare and contrast God (righteousness) with Satan (sin). Satan hunts us down. Sin is at every corner. Sin seeps into our life whenever we let down
our defenses. On the other hand, God
calls us to Him – but we must heed the call.
We know where to find God, and we must go to Him. Yes, He does beckon us – sometimes quite
strongly even. But God does not hunt us in
any similar manner like sin hunts us down.
I think this is really important to contemplate on this day. Sin will come into our life through no effort
of our own. Sin comes into our life
because of a lack of effort to be righteous!
But it takes work to know God and live by His ways.
Associating With Wisdom
As we read
through this proverb, look at all the things with which wisdom is
connected. In verses 6-11 we understand
just how wisdom is connected to righteousness, truth, prudence, sense,
nobility, and understanding. Are there any
bad qualities on that list? Are there
any qualities on that list that you would say, “Do I really have too much of
that in my life?” I doubt it. The more of those qualities we have, the
better off we are. How do we get them in
our life? We must learn to pursue them. We must come at sit at the feet of wisdom and
glean.
In verses
12-21 we hear that wisdom is connected to prudence, knowledge, discretion, fear
of the Lord, good counsel, insight, strength, justness, true wealth, honor, and
righteousness. Again I ask: is there any
of those qualities that you would ever say, “Maybe I have too much of that in
my life?” I don’t think so. That’s an incredible list of characteristics
right there. The more of those qualities
we can have in our life the better off we would all be.
I
encourage you to read those lists of attributes in each of the last two
paragraphs again. Imagine a person who
had all of those qualities in plentiful supply.
Now imagine that you had those qualities in plentiful supply. Would life be better? What in your life might be different? Do you want that? No, seriously. Do you want it or are you just saying that
you want it?
Take
another look at Proverbs 8:17. There is
our answer. “I love those who love me;
those who seek after me diligently find me.”
There is our key. Anyone can say,
“I believe God is real.” Anyone can even
say, “I believe Jesus was real.” Anyone
can say, “I believe Jesus died on the cross.”
At no point do any of those confessions indicate that a person is
pursuing God. At no point do any of
those confessions indicate that a person is in love with God. At no point do any of those questions
indicate that a person is diligently seeking the Lord. Those confessions are simply a historical
confession that an event occurred.
Those who
pursue God make comments like “I believe this behavior in my life is sin, so
with God’s help I am casting this out of my life.” Those who are diligent in their pursuit of
God are perpetually active in the process of allowing their life to be
conformed to His ways. Those who are
seeking out God and His wisdom do not hide behind His grace and they do not allow
sin to continue in their life because they know they can be forgiven. Rather, those who are seeking out God are
actively casting sin away from them and humbly coming before God in a
repentance that brings about change.
Those who are genuinely pursuing God place trust in the fact that their
satisfaction will actually increase when they cast away the sinful desires of
their heart.
Wisdom Is With God
As this
chapter concludes, we hear all about how wisdom was with God from the very beginning. I couldn’t help but read these final dozen {or
so} verses and not also hear John 1:1 and John 1:3 echoing loudly in my
head. While I am not absolutely certain
that it is fair to say that Jesus is the physical embodiment of “wisdom” in
this passage, I do think it is fair to say that when we pursue Jesus we pursue
God and His wisdom. So do that. Pursue Him.
Don’t just believe He exists.
Don’t just believe His grace is sufficient. Pursue that grace. Pursue His righteousness. Seek after Him with everything you’ve
got. You will not be disappointed with
the results.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment