Dave's Diary

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for graciously guiding me in the Ways of Wisdom by Your Word of Life. I acknowledge the many times I have neglected to listen to Your direction. I also confess the times I have listened but have then failed to obey. Please forgive me, and please grant me the grace today to both listen and obey. Amen.

Reading

Read Proverbs 9 slowly and prayerfully. Notice which verse particularly jumps out at you. Re-read that verse a few times slowly. Write it down in your journal. Try to memorise it so that you can reflect on it without having to read from the page.

Prayerful Reflection

Now take that Proverb and think about your life at the moment. Is there a situation in your life to which that Proverb applies. Ask the Lord how this verse from His Word is telling you to live out His wisdom in that situation. Make notes in your journal.

A Devotional Thought

Proverbs 9: 
¹² If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
    if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Ancient Hebrew culture was very communal in nature. It had a clear understanding of the way one person’s behaviour could affect the whole family or community. Yet here, Proverbs 9 emphasizes the role and responsibility of the individual. It promises that when one lives in reverent awe of God, seeking to love and please God and to stay in step with God’s revealed will – for this is true wisdom (9:10) – one will reap the benefits as an individual. “If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you” (v.12).

Similarly it promises that if one rejects the ways of wisdom, scoffing at the direction of God’s Word, one will later come to regret one’s choice, as an individual. “(I)f you are a mocker, you alone will suffer” (v.12)

As I contemplate this verse prayerfully, it occurs to me how foolish it is to ever allow the negative opinions of others to direct ones daily decisions rather than the Lord’s Wisdom. That is not to say that there is no wisdom to be found in the counsel of others. There is. It is, however, a warning not to allow oneself to be turned aside from what one knows God wants one to do, by the peer pressure of others’ ungodly influences. In the short term it is much easier to go along with the crowd and to bow to the pressure of public opinion, but ultimately one is personally accountable to God for one’s decisions (whether wise or foolish) and for their consequences, and, those consequences are felt by each of us individually.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, please fill me with such reverent awe for the Father that I may stay in step with His Wisdom even in the face of negative pressure from others around me. Help me to avoid the trap of folly and to reap the rewards of Wisdom today. Amen.