October 8, 2024 -- Proverbs 8:1 -- Understanding and Wisdom: they are calling out to you today.

Does not wisdom call?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
Proverbs 8:1 ESV

Those are the two questions that dog your steps today. Are you going to choose the way of understanding? Will you listen to wisdom? In this text understanding is personified. She is calling you to make a choice—the blindness of the world, or the bright path of ever greater understanding of this world which was made by her Creator. And those who gain understanding grow in the awareness that it is the presence of God which sustains all things. The orderliness of the world reflects the understanding with which God endued creation.

In the Proverbs wisdom is personified as a woman who follows the commands of God. Wisdom is an instructor so that the traps of sin and the snares of evil can be discerned and avoided. Wisdom is winsome and welcomes those who are simple, confused, lost or indecisive calling all such people to find their way to the Living God. Wisdom invites sinners to leave their sins and foolish men to avoid the traps of the Devil which will ensnare the mind and capture the soul of a man.

It is striking that Jesus though despised by the very people He created and came to save was acknowledged in Luke’s Gospel as one who “grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40 ESV). He was filled with understanding—He could refute all those who challenged His confidence in the LORD of Glory. He was wise. He knew when to speak and when to perform miracles that attested His message. He knew when to leave and go to a new region. He was open to God’s leading. Why is that? Because, as is recorded, more than a dozen times in Luke, Jesus went off to a lonely place to pray.

It is by His deep connection to the Father, aided by the power of the Spirit’s presence in Him, that Jesus grew in understanding. He was human. He needed the Spirit to make the Father known to Him. He knew the word of God. He stood His ground against all the lies of the world and all what was purported to be wisdom among the religious leaders, but was, in fact, falseness and idolatry.

Will you heed understanding as she raises her voice over you today? Will you pick up your Bible and ask the Spirit of God to give you the ability to see His hand, His goodness, and His sustaining work in your life? Look at the world around you and consider the stars above the mysteries of the ocean depths, and the interactions of each cell in your body and know the LORD has fit all of together and placed you on a planet that is perfectly suited so that you can know Him.

Will you listen to wisdom? She is calling you away from the patterns of sin that chain you. She is inviting you to learn of Jesus and His salvation so that you, in the spheres of influence where God has placed you, your voice will be joined to hers inviting others to know God.

Father, what we do not know, teach us;
What we have not, give us;
What we are not, kindly make us;
For Your Son’s sake. Amen.
Old Anglican Prayer

https://youtu.be/BE4DDB5whyk?si=jp-9Ic08B4vjQJn1 “Jesus Shall Reign”

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