Tag: Pursuing Wisdom

Multigenerational family dining together around a table with framed family quote

Who Do You Know?

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“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you are wise for your own benefit; if you mock, you alone will bear the consequences.” (Proverbs‬ ‭9‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Who has your highest respect? Who is the person you look up to more than any other; whose opinion controls your decision making most of all? That person will direct the course of your life. That person has a power over you that will make your life either happy or terrible. Choose that person wisely, because if you don’t, the consequences will be awful. Solomon has a suggestion of who that person should be here. Let’s take a look.

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Unwelcome Counsel

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“The one who corrects a mocker will bring abuse on himself; the one who rebukes the wicked will get hurt. Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke the wise, and he will love you. Instruct the wise, and he will be wiser still; teach the righteous, and he will learn more.” (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭9‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had someone try to give you advice you didn’t want? My guess is that you didn’t receive it so graciously. Perhaps if you had been taught by your parents to always be polite you expressed some gratitude, but inside you knew just exactly what you were going to do with that advice: nothing. And you were probably going to resent the person for giving it to you unsolicited in the first place. You might have even determined that you were going to do the opposite out of spite. In that situation, you were playing the part of a mocker. That’s not a great role to play. Let’s talk about it.

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The Party Is Ready for You

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“Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars. She has prepared her meat; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her female servants; she calls out from the highest points of the city: ‘Whoever is inexperienced, enter here!’ To the one who lacks sense, she says, “Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave inexperience behind, and you will live; pursue the way of understanding.” (Proverbs‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭CSB – Read the chapter) ‬‬

Have you ever been to someone’s house who clearly wasn’t expecting you? Nothing was prepared. The house wasn’t clean. Nothing about the place communicated that they were prepared for you or even wanted you there. Now, contrast that with a time you went to someone’s house who clearly was expecting you. There, everything was ready. You were clearly on their mind. They made all their plans around your being there. That felt good. Solomon tells us that wisdom is a good host like this. As much as we need to be searching for wisdom, she is planning on us finding her. Let’s not disappoint.

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Woman holding coffee and phone beside jar labeled COMMUNITY FUND

The Secret to Real Happiness

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“And now, sons, listen to me; those who keep my ways are happy. Listen to instruction and be wise; don’t ignore it. Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors every day, waiting by the posts of my doorway. For the one who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, but the one who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death.” (Proverbs‬ ‭8‬:‭32‬-‭36‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

We live in a world that constantly tells us we should be happy. All the time. If there is something about our circumstances that is making us not happy, we should change them, or at least get out of them. Happiness is always the goal. I even have a throw pillow somewhere in my house that says so. With little bees on it. Get it? All of this happiness is supposed to lead to our best life now. It even has a hashtag. The trouble is, the methods our culture offers to get us to that goal rarely work for long. Solomon offers us a way to get there that is much more reliable. Let’s talk about it.

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The Wisdom of Creation

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“The Lord acquired me at the beginning of his creation, before his works of long ago. I was formed before ancient times, from the beginning, before the earth began. I was born when there were no watery depths and no springs filled with water. Before the mountains were established, prior to the hills, I was given birth—before he made the land, the fields, or the first soil on earth. I was there when he established the heavens, when he laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean, when he placed the skies above, when the fountains of the ocean gushed out, when he set a limit for the sea so that the waters would not violate his command, when he laid out the foundations of the earth. I was a skilled craftsman beside him. I was his delight every day, always rejoicing before him. I was rejoicing in his inhabited world, delighting in the children of Adam.” (Proverbs‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬-‭31‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

One of the more common slang words for something old is to refer to it as “OG.” That’s technically short for “original gangster.” The phrase came out the urban hip hop culture as a way to establish something as authentic and real. Today it gets thrown around all over the place as a way simply to refer to things that are old or otherwise authentic. Well, when it comes to creation itself, it’s hard to imagine something more authentic and original than wisdom. Let’s talk about how Solomon describes it here.

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