Post Sunday Devotional Sunday June 15

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7
This verse forms the foundation of the book of Proverbs. Why is that important to us? As those who have chosen to follow Christ and have chosen to pursue Him in every avenue of life, whether it be our roles as children, our roles as a spouse, our roles as parents, our roles as a friend, our roles as an employee, our roles as managers, bosses, students, public servants, whatever it may be, if we are choosing to pursue Jesus in those areas we have to realize that we are not only going to need to increase in knowledge of who Jesus is, but also increase in knowledge of how to actually apply that knowledge to our day to day lives. Big mouthful, I know (not to mention a run on sentence as my English teacher used to constantly point out to me). Let’s look at it this way; “Do we or do we not want to please God with what we say, do and think?” Why should we say that so bluntly to ourselves? I’m glad you asked.
The book of Proverbs communicates to us in differing ways that morality is defined as what is pleasing to God (fear of the Lord denotes that we care about what we do because we care about what God thinks) and that this fact forms the basis for our lives and will be shown through the potential fruit that will be brought forth from our lives.
Consider the below verse
“The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” Proverbs 11:3
When we choose a way that differs from God asks of us is that not being unfaithful to God? What according to that verse occurs to the unfaithful? They are destroyed. What have you chosen?
Remember a Proverb is a short, quick, right to the heart of the issue statement. The proverb will draw a comparison for us in order to paint a picture in our minds that we then must measure up to our lives. We can have that fear of the Lord and begin to learn knowledge or we can choose the second half of verse 7 and be the fool.
Let’s take a look at the comparison that is being drawn forth in verse 7, the foundational statement of the book of Proverbs.
On the one side we have the one who fears the Lord and is thus gaining knowledge. Here is what gaining knowledge means… “Knowledge denotes a mastery over experience through the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual state realm. It enables its possessor to cope with the mysteries of life, to cope with adversity, to tear down strongholds, and to promote the life of an individual and possibly an entire community.”
The knowledge person sounds and behaves as one who is tough, who is not just surviving the tests of life, but thriving within them. Hold onto that thought…

On the other side we have the fool. When we hear someone called a fool, we may think of them as dumb or idiotic. We also may think of them as not knowing any better, they are ignorant of the truth we may believe. When Solomon addresses the fool in the book of Proverbs he is mainly speaking toward two types of fools and they aren’t ignorant.
The first is the fool who has closed his mind, he is stubborn, he has his mind made up, either out of laziness, shortsightedness or selfishness (he already has a desire in his heart and he won’t have it taken away even if it is wrong). This type of fool is not guided by God’s righteousness (unless it benefits his immediate desire) but rather he is guided by his own desires. In others words they do what they feel like doing. Solomon writes this about how a proverb is received by this type of fool; “Like the legs of the lame that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of fools.” 26:7. In other words, they know it, they see it, they have it, but they have no ability to do anything with it, they are unskilled. These types of individuals will constantly find themselves in trouble. They will constantly find themselves in over their heads. They will constantly be in need of being bailed out.
The second type of fool that Solomon addresses are the fools who are arrogant and flippant (a scoffer). Not only do they not listen but they then turn around and criticize the wise. They distance themselves from the wise and thus when they do eventually find themselves in need of help they find that they have alienated all the people who could actually help them. “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.” 1:28-29
In the simplest of terms Solomon is depicting two people, one who is skilled at living life (the one who chooses the fear of the Lord) and one who is unskilled at living life (the one who chooses not the fear of the Lord). One who will continue to thrive in all and during all situations in life and those that will not.
It is this picture that should motivate us to pour through not only the book of Proverbs but the entire Bible. Mining out its wisdom and becoming skilled in the use of it. Proverbs as we spoke on Sunday has over 900 statements to be made to us. The mere fact that there are so many should communicate to us that our hearts should be tender toward applying itself to these wise sayings over the entire course of our lives.
Here are some things to get us all thinking about….
Proverbs 18:2 “A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart.”
How much and how often do you feel the absolute need of expressing yourself? Often or not so often? What may that possibly indicate about you? Don’t get angry at this! Get wise! Because see below…
Proverbs 22:24-25 “Make no friendships with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you should learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.”
How often have you been drawn into an angry person’s conversation and come out of it feeling dirty and soiled yourself!? Or maybe you are thinking…now I know why people avoid conversation with me…ouch! Maybe we need to think of the next proverb….
Proverbs 10:19 “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”
Does that one even need a comment? Connect that one with the below verse…
Proverbs 20:19 “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.” NIV
How often do we so wish we would have walked away from that conversation that we just listened to and maybe we even began to comment ourselves or nodded our heads (even if we didn’t agree!).

I hope this has begun to stir in your hearts an appetite for digging deeper into Proverbs. The truths contained within were written to benefit your life!

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

Read One chapter a day, before you read it ask God to point out one thing from that chapter, write it down and begin to be skilled at applying that knowledge to your life!