Proverbs 8:1-11 says...

Today's verses are Proverbs 8:1-11, which read,

v.1-3 - Does not wisdom call, and understanding lift up her voice?  On top of the heights beside the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates, at the opening of the city, at the entrance of the doors, she cries out:...

Look at the difference between wisdom and foolishness.  Wisdom is out in the day and foolishness lurks in the night.  Wisdom shouts from the public square while foolishness whispers in your ear down a back alley.  Wisdom is in the public spaces and foolishness is in the private spaces.  Wisdom greets people as they come into the city with nothing to hide but foolishness waits for night to come out and ambush people from around dark corners.  Wisdom has nothing to hide while foolishness is seeking a place to hide until it can move about nabbing people who have entered her domain.

v.4, 5 - ..."To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.  O naive ones, understand prudence; and, O fools, understand wisdom.

Wisdom calls out to the men, the sons of men, the naive and the fools.  Wisdom makes an appeal to those who are in authority, those being trained to take over authority, those who are vulnerable and those who are rejecting it all and going their own way.  Wisdom isn't just for a certain group of people who are willing and able to pay 4 equal installments of $19.95 for the answer to all their problems.  Wisdom is actively calling out to all walks of life freely and openly.

v.6-9 - "Listen, for I will speak noble things; and the opening of my lips will reveal right things.  For my mouth will utter truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.  All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverted in them.  They are all straightforward to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge."

There is no place in the mouth or on the lips for the one giving wisdom to have wicked, crooked or perverted instruction.  What comes from the one giving wisdom is noble with authority, right with equity and straightforward with clearness.

This brings up the question, "What fills up our minds that comes out of our mouths and across our lips?"  Are there things that should not be there because they do not fit the criteria of noble, right and straightforward?  We have allowed the wicked, crooked, and perverted to take up residence in our lives and minds that will eventually come out of our mouths.  We have allowed wickedness to become something other than an abomination, a disgusting thing.

v.10, 11 - "Take my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest gold.  For wisdom is better than jewels; and all desirable things cannot compare with her."

Wow, wisdom is more precious that what we value in our consumeristic world.  We value silver, gold, jewels and anything that people desire at the moment.  Silver is now not as valuable as gold; gold has different grades and goes up and down with the market; jewels can be copied to look so real; and what we desire fades with the ever introducing newest version of the smart phone of your choice.  Wisdom is in a whole different category that is not connected to changing markets and marketing schemes.  

Wisdom is to be taken and it is to be given.  May we see how valuable God's Word is to our lives so that those things that we desire don't creep up to be more valuable than what He has said.  His Word keeps us in a noble, right, and straightforwardness state that can be proclaimed in the day from any public street corner.  Remember foolishness, foolish instruction and thinking, lingers in the night and is hidden to ambush those who wander into her territory as she flashes you those things that can't compare to wisdom.  Let's pray.

"Lord how flashy and attractive the world makes what is so inferior to Your wisdom.  May we not be sucked into what we will regret later and maybe hide in the shadows for a long time.  May we be people of the day and not of the night when it comes to what comes out of mouths via our hearts.  May there be no place in our mouths for wicked, crooked, or perverted things.  May what comes from our mouths today be noble, right, and straightforward because it comes from listening to You and taking it to action.  Amen."

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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