September 26, 2018: Day 46 – Proverbs 4

Once again we hear Solomon addressing his children and he speaks about how he was brought up in his household with wisdom.  So he would have been speaking about being brought up in King David’s household with all the turmoil and drama that occurred in that house.  Once again, the emphasis is on pursuing wisdom as a precious commodity that ought never be turned down for anything temporal.  

Let’s think about that for a moment.  The gift of wisdom from the Lord is one that is often overlooked.  We aren’t talking about education, or book smarts, or intelligence.  We are talking about the ability to discern right from wrong and the ability to choose right over wrong.  These are two very different gifts.  We are not going to devolve into moralizing here, but think about the role that wisdom plays in your life.  If you have children then you know the role that it plays.  When do I exercise my authority and when do I allow them to learn on their own?  If you are in a supervisory role at work you can ask the question when do I make decisions that may be risky and yet produce profit or benefit, and when do I choose to take the more conservative approach?

If you look at vs. 17 you will see one attribute of wickedness which also came up in chapter 3 but I didn’t mention it.  Violence, violence is a clear sign that someone is not quite following the wisdom that God has gifted us.  Violence is a sign that we have surpassed our own ability to control our emotions and have decided to go out on our own on this one.  Violence is always a sign of God not being allowed into the situation and we having taken the situation into our own hands and shoving God away.  There are now exceptions.