Two separate invitations. In Proverbs chapter 9, we see two identical invitations given by two very different women. We cannot accept both of them and the chapter lists exactly what each invitation wants. The invitations both desire to get the person to come over to them. Yet only wisdom promises to help and uphold God’s Word. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I’ve heard that described as loving what God loves and hating what He hates. Which invitation are we accepting? What will we draw unto our life as a result?

Wisdom is wise. That sort of sounds like something we should know, but if we knew it, we wouldn’t avoid wisdom like we do. God created wisdom and used her from the beginning of time. In Proverbs 8:22-36 we see that wisdom knew and helped God throughout creation. As we use wisdom, we have access to all the wisdom from the beginning of time. We need to know and use all that God has provided for us. Yet many of us run away from wisdom. Why? We need all the help we can get. We need God’s wisdom. Will we continue to pursue wisdom in all her ways? Will we…

Wisdom wants to be found. In Proverbs 8:1-21 we see wisdom speaking to us. What I find so amazing throughout this section of verses is that wisdom wants to be found. Wisdom isn’t hiding from people, sneaking around being unavailable. Wisdom is standing at the corner shouting, begging people to come to her. So often when we think about wisdom, we think about how rare it is to find someone with wisdom. Yet according to this, wisdom wants to be found and is desperately trying to get people’s attention so that they will seek and find wisdom and then use it in their lives. Are we seeking after wisdom? More…

God hates sin. Often we think of God as only being love. God is love, but that doesn’t mean that God loves everything. There are things that God hates, and those are sins. In Proverbs 6:16-35 we see an interesting progression of verses. It starts off telling us the things that God hates, then it shares that God gave us commands to keep us on the right path, finally, it shares the result of following the sinful path instead of God’s path for us. God loves us, but He hates sin and desires that we overcome the sin in our life so that we experience His best. Sin in our…

Who is the master, you or money? In Proverbs 6:1-15, Solomon gives a lot of practical advice about money. He talks about the danger of being in debt to someone and how owing money to others can be like being in bondage to that person. Are we a slave to money or do we use money as a tool to do what God has for us to do? Reading through these verses we see the urgency of being delivered from debt and being in control of our desires around money. Are you in control of your desires regarding money, or does money control you? Are you the gazelle mentioned running…

God sees us. Sometimes I feel very alone and think that the things I am struggling with are things that I am alone for. However, in Proverbs 5:18-23 we several great truths, but one that jumps out at me today. In verse 21 it says that the ways of man are before the Lord and He watches all He does. God sees us and He knows what we are doing. God knows the frustrations that we face every day and He sees the choices that we make. We are not alone. God is right there seeing us and prompting us in the path that we are to go. Are we…

Are we wasting ourselves? As Solomon continues speaking in Proverbs 5:1-17, he is discussing an issue that has been a temptation for centuries, lust and physical pleasure. As we read these first few verses, we see that lust and physical pleasure are certainly sins to guard against. But more than that, they are sins that weaken a person. He asks why someone would want to give their strength to another. Why would they give the best of themselves to someone who don’t care about them? It’s an interesting question, because when we are lusting after something else, we are giving the best of our energy and our desire to that…

Do we watch over our heart, or do we follow our heart? In Proverbs 4:14-27 we see continued instruction on how to avoid evil. We must watch and guard our heart, not follow it. Our heart can be easily distracted if we are not guarding it. We are to discipline and direct our heart to follow and seek after the ways of God. Only by keeping our heart focused on Him will we avoid the pain of having our heart broken by the other things in this world.

What are we teaching our children?  In Proverbs 4:1-13, we see a father giving instruction to his son. He teaches him several things he needs to be doing and some things that he should be avoiding. He teaches him about wisdom and how to have and keep wisdom in his life. Are we sharing what we know with others? Whether it is our own children, or if it is other children or other people that we know, we are to be teachers sharing the things that we have learned through life. What have you experienced that you can teach others so they avoid difficulties? We have all learned so many…