Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Psalm 39 and Proverbs 2:12-22

Life is filled with many temptations to turn away from God’s desire for our lives. Two particular sources of temptation are mentioned in Proverbs 2:12-22. There are “the wicked” who tempt us to go astray down their “dark paths” and whose ways are “wrong”, “twisted” and “crooked”. And there is “the immoral woman” representing a person (male or female depending on who we are) who lures us to satisfy sexual desire outside of “the covenant” of mariage made “before God” (v.17).

But let’s not be fooled into thinking that “the wicked” and “the immoral woman” are the only sources of temptation. To be sure, the compromising (‘means-to-an-end’) approach to life and sexual lust are two powerful forces that can very readily derail our lives, but there are many others too. It’s important that we should know ourselves well enough to be aware of our personal vulnerabilities to temptation. That way we can be particularly alert to temptation and not be blindsided quite so easily.

This is where wisdom comes into play. Proverbs 1-2 has reassured us that when our highest priority is to please the Lord in all that we do, God will grant us His gift of wisdom and the understanding of how to please Him in every given set of circumstances. Likewise, Proverbs 2:12 and 16 tell us that “wisdom will save you” from these temptations. The voice of wisdom, which very often comes through our conscience (as we saw yesterday), will warn us in the moment we are tempted to step off the God-pleasing path. While temptation pulls us in one direction through our sinful, selfish desires, wisdom calls us in God’s direction. Ultimately the free-will choice is ours, whether to remain in God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives, or to be lured astray to the lesser path of sinful indulgence. The choice comes down to a matter of which voice we listen to more attentively.

Of course, as Spirit-filled believers, we have the massive advantage of having the Spirit of Wisdom indwelling us to guide us and empower us to respond. In this spiritual battle, we are not alone!

Holy Spirit, help me to hear the voice of wisdom today and, when I hear, empower me to respond with joyful obedience. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.