Proverbs - Wise Children

Proverbs 10:1

             The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father:

but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

                        Given the fact that the Lord gave Solomon a “... a wise and an understanding heart;...”.(I King 3:12) we can conclude from this verse that King David would have been a glad father.  Solomon did not receive this wisdom until after David died.  We don’t know if he had regrets about certain choices and heaviness from foolishness in his youth.  Absalom was a foolish son and truly Solomon must have heard of the heartbreak his father had gone through with Absalom. The psalmist prayed, “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD. (Ps 25:7) Even if we in our youthfulness brought some heartache to our parents, the Lord is in the business of giving wisdom and we can even now walk according this wisdom and bring joy to our parents.

                        If wisdom makes a glad father and foolishness makes a mother so heavy in heart, then we must take the commission of training our children away from foolishness and into wisdom very seriously.  Do they know about bed times, use of their tongues, financial wisdom, work ethic, entertainment choices, how to submit to authority, how to deliver messages faithfully, etc..?  Have you gone through the Proverbs yourself to gain the wisdom to deliver this to them?  If we leave children to their own, surely as mothers our hearts will be heavy.  Let us ask the Lord today to give us insight and instruction to teach our children in wisdom.

Knowing God - He is One God

1 John 5:7

 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Our God is a triune God – a God who has an identity in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  We are to worship and know Him according to truth.  This truth is determined by who He is.  Who He is has been revealed in His written Word, in the manifestation of God in Christ, in creation and through a continued revelation by the manifestations of His Holy Spirit.  In this scripture, the Lord has clearly revealed His nature.  These three are one.  How does that work?  I cannot clearly explain the One who created the mind which I use to understand, but I do have something that helps a little.  The scriptures tell us that we are made in His image.  The Lord explains a bit about us in this verse.  Paul says, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess 5:23) We see that we are triune beings.  We have a spirit, soul and body.  Our body speaks to us and tells us when we are hungry.  Our spirit is that which has been made alive and is now to rule our bodies and souls.  Our soul is that which, thinks, feels and makes decisions. All three of these make up who we are.  They are not independent.  They work together.  Although the triune God is much more complex than I could clearly outline, I think this truth of being made in His image helps us have a better grasp of how three can be one.

Proverbs - Deception

Proverbs 9:14-18

For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

             To call passengers who go right on their ways:

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither:

and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

            Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

             But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

                    Our fallen nature as women involves pulling others into the deceptions we succumb to.  Eve didn’t just eat of the forbidden fruit but “... she... gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Gen 3:6 This foolish woman sits and calls to people who pass by to pull them in to her clamorous lifestyle.  We must be warned and take heed that when we are anxious, murmuring or loud, that we don’t pull in our children, husbands or roommates in to the state of mind in which we are operating. 

The enemy of our souls is similar to this foolish woman.  Satan sits ready to call to us who are on our ways and goes after us even when we have understanding on a matter.  He will contradict what wisdom is saying and will call what is evil - pleasant and sweet.  He tries to pull is in a secretive, stolen direction.  He paints a picture of excitement and tantalizes us with the forbidden.  We must look beyond the temptation and its pleasures to the end of the road - the consequences of agreeing with our adversary.  Sure, sin is fun.  It wouldn’t be a temptation if it weren’t tempting!  But, let us be warned that, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov 16:25

Knowing God - His Majesty is Above All

1 Chron 29:11

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

King David says this as they are getting things ready to build the temple.  King David would not build the temple but he could get things ready for the construction.  After all the gold, silver and materials are gathered, David begins to express the greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty of the Lord.  He proclaims that all this is in heaven and in earth is the Lord’s.  No matter what beautiful things we have been allowed to enjoy, ALL that is in heaven and earth is His and He is exalted as head above all.  When we have an opportunity to see beautiful things our eyes must stay on the One who made it all.  Our Lord is to be exalted as head over all.  He is greater than kings.   He is more glorious than gold.  He is greater than any sort of craftsmanship.  He is majestic and all we enjoy is because He has made all things.  Let us glorify Him in the times of material blessing and pleasure.  Let us exalt Him above all.

Proverbs - Clamor

Proverbs 9:13

            A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

             

                        Clamorous.  What a word.  We would never want to be described as clamorous.  Some translations use the word ‘loud’.  This word means to murmur, make noise, to be troubled or to be in a commotion.  When we lack wisdom and just take life for what we see without His insight, we most likely will make a lot of noise. 

                        In the book of James we read; “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” (James 3:13) Wisdom from the Lord is associated with meekness - the quality of not having to draw attention to self and yield to that which is good.  If we find ourselves talking a lot about a situation we may find that we haven’t the wisdom yet on the matter.  Let us pull away from the clamor and quiet our hearts before the Lord seeking Him to guide and counsel us with wisdom that comes from above.

Knowing God - He Used the Word

Matt 4:7

Jesus said unto him, It is written again,

Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Jesus quoted the Word to Satan.  He uses the word ‘again’.  Satan used the Word to challenge Jesus and Jesus used the Word to answer back.  The Lord will use His Word in our lives to fight the enemy’s challenges.  If the Lord used the written word, how much more should we be diligent to know the Word and quote it in the face of our adversary?  By Jesus using the Word in the enemy’s face, we are shown the example of appropriate response.  Jesus didn’t just speak a summary of God’s Word but He spoke what was written.  May we grow in our ability to study, memorize and use the Word. 

Proverbs - Sure Counsel

           

Proverbs 9:10-12

 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:

 and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

 For by me thy days shall be multiplied,

and the years of thy life shall be increased.

 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself:

 but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.

                        If we really want to know how to live we must be concerned with one voice alone.  That is the voice of the Lord.  We must not fear man and what he thinks, we must not fear failure and its supposed oppression and we must not fear change and all that comes with it.

            When we begin to seek out what God deems as holy we will understand what life is all about.  Knowing who the Lord is and what He thinks about things causes us to have understanding of matters.  This understanding produces a sure-footedness that results in quietness and confidence - a supernatural strength. 

            As followers of God, we are privilege to counsel that is sure and practical.  Our days will be many for the mere fact that we hear Him order our steps.  When we should go to bed, when to rise up, how to forgive, and what to expend our energy on are only a few of those things that, when guided by His leading, result in better health as a general rule.

           If we have the fear of man we will live on edge and nervousness.  This is so hard on our frame.  The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ as we pray about everything giving thanks to Him for those things we bring before Him.  If we are mulling things over and others’ reactions to our decisions rather than coming before the Lord in prayer seeking His will we may shorten our days due to stresses on our system.

            The wisdom we receive is for our lives and to cause us to build with the finest materials to the highest standards.  If we mock at what the Lord says and take it lightly we will be the ones to bear it.  So, we must lift up our voices for this wisdom and know that each wise choice will directly impact the quality of life we experience.