Two Ways of Life (Proverbs 4)

Proverbs 4:18-19 say: The path of righteousness is like the light of dawn shinning brighter and brighter until midday. 19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don't know what makes them stumble.

I love Proverbs because it corrects our misunderstandings about spirituality. We tend to compartmentalize spirituality and push it to the margins of our lives. We divide our lives into our spiritual activities (Sundays and maybe Wednesdays) and secular activities (the rest of the week). We think of most of life as morally neutral. We think God is more concerned with the “spiritual” things we do than he is with the rest of our lives. We think that God really cares about us having a good devotional time; but he’s not necessarily concerned with our jobs or our schools, outside of us trying to be a good witness in those places. We think God is really concerned that I be a witness but he is not as concerned that I show up on time or that I complete my assignments by their due date. Solomon blows this paradigm apart in Proverbs. All of the details of your daily life are not morally neutral. That’s the whole point of Proverbs. Wisdom isn’t first and foremost tips for daily living that you follow; Wisdom is a person that you know and a path that you then walk. If you lack wisdom in a practical area of your life, it’s not just that you are a fool in that area, although you are; you are demonstrating that you have a problem with Jesus. If you walk in foolishness, you are walking away from Jesus. If you have a temper problem, you love to argue with people, you go too far with your girlfriend, or you can’t see a task your boss assigns you through to completion, those are not just minor character flaws. They reveal that you have a problem with Jesus. If you find yourself walking down the wrong path, it reveals you are following the wrong person, and that’s deadly! That’s exactly what Solomon teaches us here through the Spirit in Proverbs 4:1-19.

Proverbs 4:7 says: Wisdom is supreme - so get wisdom and whatever else you get, get understanding (CSB)

according to many English versions, David makes a statement in verse 7 that seems odd. He says, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom” (ESV). OK? So you are saying that the first step to getting wisdom is getting wisdom? That’s strange. That does not seem all that wise, to be honest. But again, what this means is that the first step to being wise is making a faith decision to commit to Wisdom—Jesus. Other English versions say something like, “Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom” (CSB). The point is the same: Wisdom—Jesus—is the most important matter in all of life, so commit to him.

Wisdom begins with a personal relationship with Jesus. That relationship is the framework to which we teach our children and grandchildren important aspects of life and teach them practical wisdom like how to be honest, how to fight anxiety, how to handle money, how to avoid get-rich-quick scams, how to receive a rebuke, how to lovingly give a rebuke, how to complete tasks like chores, and a thousand other things. The foolish person, rejects Jesus and wisdom and will always have a distorted view of the world. Choose wisdom, choose Christ

For continue study read Proverbs 4