“For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight you. Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you. It will rescue you from the way of evil—from anyone who says perverse things, from those who abandon the right paths to walk in ways of darkness, from those who enjoy doing evil and celebrate perversion, whose paths are crooked, and whose ways are devious.” (Proverbs 2:10-15 CSB – Read the chapter)

Kiefer Sutherland’s famous character, Jack Bauer, from the series 24, made a really interesting observation at the end of the first season. When it was revealed that a former good guy had become a bad guy, he noted that the villains weren’t simply bad people. They were once good people who made a bad choice that was then followed up with another bad choice. It’s frighteningly easy to fall down a rabbit hole of bad choices that finds us winding up somewhere entirely other than we meant to go. Wisdom helps us avoid that. Let’s talk about it.

If yesterday found us exploring the purpose of wisdom, today has us starting to look at a couple of its results. When we pursue wisdom by seeking the Lord intentionally and diligently—since wisdom comes from Him—and enjoy the understanding of righteousness, justice, and integrity that comes from it, we will find the object of our pursuit. Remember: Wisdom wants to be found. When we pursue her, she will delight in being found by us, and then she will delight us.

“For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight you.” Wisdom is a pleasurable thing to experience. There is great joy to be found in knowing the right thing to do and then doing that thing and experiencing the results of that. Okay, but what about when we do the right thing and get punished for it? When we are operating by wisdom we will be able to see and understand that the world we are in now is not the only world there is.

God’s kingdom is eternal and we are living for and toward that where all wrongs will finally be righted and the righteous will receive their rewards. The knowledge that we are storing up great treasures in heaven will be part of the reward of wisdom that we enjoy now. This is a kind of secret enjoyment that no one else can take from us. We are living in obedience to God’s command by pursuing this path, and living in obedience to God’s command brings us the guarantee of experiencing the fulfillment of His promises. This is a joy the world cannot take from us.

Not only will wisdom and the knowledge it helps us gain bring us joy, it will serve as a shield for us against trouble. “Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you.” When we understand the situations we are in we will better be able to navigate them in ways that help us avoid potential mines and misfortunes. When we are guided by wisdom such that we can go into a situation with deftness and care rather than smashing our way in like a bull in a china shop, we will be far more likely to avoid all sorts of trouble that would otherwise dog us through it and even create more difficult situations for us to have to face in the future.

When wisdom enters our heart because of our diligent pursuit of it, “it will rescue you from the way of evil.” There is a path through this life that is evil. That feels like a strong word to use, but it’s the correct one. Any path that deviates from the righteousness of God is evil. In fact, there are several paths through life that are evil. Sometimes that evil is big and obvious, but more often it is subtle and nuanced. We are sorely tempted to look at these paths and conclude they are just misguided or perhaps even sophisticated. But subtle, nuanced evil, sophisticated evil, misguided evil are all still evil.

Solomon goes on to list out some of the evil paths wisdom helps us to avoid. He starts with “anyone who says perverse things.” How much trouble do we create for ourselves, how much evil do we unleash into the world around us because of the things that we say? James rightly observes that the tongue is a world of evil. The wise person knows both which things to say and which things not to say. When you are around someone who is constantly making crude jokes or comments, that’s not a person you want to be around anymore if you can help it. You certainly don’t want to associate with them any more than you have to. They will eventually drag you down. Your friends determine the direction and quality of your life. Choose friends whose words unleash life not perversities.

Wisdom will also save us from “those who abandon the right paths to talk in ways of darkness.” The route to becoming evil often doesn’t begin with a bang. Like Jack Bauer indicated, it starts with simply choosing to do something other than the right thing, with abandoning the right paths through life. As we grow in wisdom we gain the ability to know which paths are right and the discipline to take those paths. The fool chooses the path that merely feels best or seems like it will meet his immediately felt needs. Felt needs are very often not the ones that resonate with the righteousness of God.

When we walk with wisdom it will help us make a break “from those who enjoy doing evil and celebrate perversion.” Our culture is coarsening. We see it in the language our political candidates feel more and more comfortable using. We see it in the ways violent people are celebrated. The young man who murdered the healthcare CEO has developed a cult-like following that openly praises his actions as morally good. There are cultural commentators who talk about the goodness of theft and destructive riots. We cannot be associated with people like that. They will drag us down. Wisdom helps us see through what’s popular to what’s right and act accordingly.

Finally, wisdom will keep us from those “whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.” The best thing to do when you find yourself on the wrong path is to turn around and go back the way you came. The Holy Spirit starts calling us back from that way as soon as we step foot on it. If you are someone who has nurtured a sensitivity to the Spirit’s call, you will hear this in whatever way He gives it, and hopefully you will respond with repentance. But not everyone does. Some folks find themselves on that path and just keep pursuing it. And while it is sometimes easy to tell who these folks are, it isn’t always. Wisdom gives us a boost in recognizing who is who and what is what so that we can respond accordingly. Not every offer that comes our way is one we have to accept. Sometimes we need to say no and go the other way. Wisdom helps us do that.

Wisdom is its own reward, yes, but it brings all sorts of other good things into our lives. It also keeps us from all sorts of things that aren’t good. So then, what are you doing to grow in wisdom today?