Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 9:13-18
Prov 9:13-18
The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Matt 7:26-27
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
To be truly wise, one must be willing to listen to others and learn from their experiences, both good and bad. Wisdom requires that we admit that we do not have all the right answers and we need the help of others. But the beginning of wisdom is to respect God as God, to acknowledge Jesus as his Son and to listen to the Word that has been revealed to us in scripture.
Wisdom lets God judge others because he knows all the facts, as well as the reasons a person has acted as they have. You and I do not know this, so we are not suited to be the judge. Jesus never sinned, he never made a mistake in judgment or in action. You and I have made more than our share of mistakes and you and I have sinned. We are right with God because he has forgiven us.
Folly comes to those who are unwilling to think. Far too many people just act like parrots and repeat what they have heard without ever thinking about it. The preacher or the teacher has always said…. so, we believe it and repeat it without questioning it or studying it. Do we shut out any notion of a person being right, without thinking, just because they don’t wear a certain religious label?
Wisdom asks if that scripture really means what we have been told it means. Wisdom asks if that teaching is just tradition or is it really what God meant when those verses were penned. Truth is truth but Jesus is truth, not you and not me!
O Lord my God, give me wisdom to listen to others with the realization that I may be wrong, even when it is something I have been taught all my life. Give me wisdom to think for myself as I study your word. Give me honesty to be willing to change my mind and admit that I have been wrong when it is in your word. Guide me into a better understanding of what you have revealed, give me wisdom to know how to apply it, and give me strength to actually do it (or not do it). I ask for your healing for those who are sick. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
