"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S WISDOM FOR LIVING"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S WISDOM FOR LIVING"

Proverbs 22:17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge;

Proverbs 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them all be fixed upon your lips,

Proverbs 22:19 So that your trust may be in the LORD; I have instructed you today, even you.

Proverbs 22:20 Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,

Proverbs 22:21 That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you?

Some explanatory thoughts, application, questions and a prayer:

The Book of Proverbs is God's book of wisdom for everyday practical wisdom. Imagine, if you will, God sitting down with you, and telling you, now this is the best way for you to live your life, and here's why. Here are the things to pursue, and here are the things to avoid.
And, here is the deeper reason of things that lie beneath the surface of life.
In other words, God explains life to you and seeks to guide you into the blessings of life, and to keep you from the dangers of life.
Such is the Book of Proverbs. We are going to look at 5 verses today, and just draw out one simple truth from each verse.

1. God calls us to listen to Him as He speaks through the wise, and to than apply our hearts to the knowledge He gives us.

Proverbs 22:17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge;

God speaks to us, and He desires that we listen. The choice is ours, the ability to listen has been given to us, but we must exercise our ability. And if we do, we are going to hear God tell us wise things.
Not only does God call us to listen to His wisdom, but then to apply it in our daily lives.

Jesus often spoke about "listening" and the Bible tells us explicitly the importance and the benefit of putting God's wisdom into application. And the danger of just listening but not doing.

2. Here is one of the benefits of listening and doing. And an exhortation to abide in the wisdom or the word of God.

Proverbs 22:18 For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them all be fixed upon your lips,

In other words, it's "good" to keep the truths of God within ourselves.
It's "good" to keep them in us to the degree we know them and can talk about them readily.
One way to accomplish this is to become a person who makes it a daily practice to read and meditate on the Word of God.
To be a person who has a real devotional life. And just like we eat physical food every day, so we ought to take in God's Spiritual food day by day. "Give us this day our daily bread”.
What better thing is there in life than to have God's life giving, life changing Word in our lives.
This is wisdom for sure.

3. If we are regularly taking in God's Word it will increase our faith, and thus we will be able to trust in God more readily.

Proverbs 22:19 So that your trust may be in the LORD; I have instructed you today, even you.

The entire purpose of God giving us His word is so that our faith or trust in Him may grow.
The Bible tells us that our faith comes from the Word.
More Bible, more faith.
It's truly that simple.
It's just the way the Lord has set it up.
This is the instruction that He has given us in life.
He has filled us with advice and knowledge through His Word.

4. God has gone to great lengths to make sure we have access to His wisdom, counsel and knowledge.

Proverbs 22:20 Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,

Proverbs 22:21 That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, That you may answer words of truth To those who send to you?

Jesus told us how it's His Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. In other words it's pleasing to God to be able to speak into our lives and give us His leadership.
He does this by and through His Word.
He wants us to know the truth of His things.
That way we will know how to navigate our way through this life.

Some Questions:

1. Would you admit that God has given you the power of choice, the freedom to make decisions?

2. Do you believe the best choice you can make is to line your life up with God's Wisdom for life.

3. Haven't you found God's ways to be pleasant, and isn't it a blessing to have that sense of knowing the truth of God's Word?

4. Do you find that when you are in the Word it truly does help give you more faith?

5. Would you take a moment to express your gratitude to God for giving you this wonderful book called "Proverbs”?

A Prayer:

Father, thank You for giving us this book of Wisdom. Along with the Psalms, they make a dual package of wisdom comfort hope and joy.
Thank You for the entire Bible. But thank you for laying out things the way You have in Proverbs. You have covered "all the bases" as we like to say. You have given us the freedom of choice, and we pray that You move in our lives to make us men and women who choose to receive Your Word in a meaningful way day by day as we wait to go to heaven. It will surely make our lives such a blessing to You, to ourselves, and to the world around us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.