Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Proverbs 8:12-21

12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.
15 By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;
16 by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.
17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of the righteous, in the paths of justice,
21 granting and inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasures.

Living with someone is a big deal, often time whether Christian or not it is entered into with much fear, prayer and trembling. So who does wisdom live with?

Prudence-certainly not sexy, yet doesn't mean boring either. Not flaunting unnecessarily
Knowledge-knowing the correct way to act and doing it
Discretion-no unnecessary attention

These three may not be the life of the party, but maybe that is the point. Doing what is right because it is right rather than having to steal the spotlight, and you give others the chance to have their day.
There are some really big assumptions taken by Ms Wisdom in this section. The assumption with evil is that it really exists here and you know it when you see it. Not as complicated as often we experience, simple pride and arrogance and perverted speech are what God hates. Lord knows I need to repent of all of these.
Also Kings, rulers and those in charge are seeking wisdom. That is so wild and foreign for us in our very skeptical culture. What would it mean for us to give those in power, influence, and with resources the benefit of the doubt that they are seeking wisdom? We wouldn't have to put ourselves or others at risk, but trust you boss the next time he or she makes a suggestion rather than feeling like you have to battle the man all the time. My own suspicious nature has been revealed to me to be false more often than I can express.
Maybe if we are less suspicious of these folks we might even have a God given desire to be them. Live as rulers and rich people who seek wisdom, who aren't ruled by possessions but rather use them to honor God and love our neighbor as ourselves. As long as I am incorrectly critical of these folks why would I ever want to be them, I'd never put in the hard work to do it. Rather God is using those in authority for His good in life, so I am grateful, I pray for them, I long to see the place where they seek out wisdom, and I hope that God will continue to use them in my life and the lives of others.
Not only are wisdom's housemates important, so are her walking partners.
Righteousness - choosing good all the time
justice - the pursuit of fairness for all of God's creation

1 comment:

michaelstevensrev said...

Really like what my wife added via facebook regarding prudence, probably had this to add because she is married to me and I have a lack of prudence:)

Karin Stevens
"Distinguishing when acts are courageous, as opposed to reckless or cowardly, for instance, is an act of prudence"
Who says 'prudence' is not sexy?