Embrace Godly Wisdom to Overcome Life’s Twists and Turns

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

There is a way that is right, but are you moving in its way? The child of God ought to be moving in godly wisdom.

Introduction

The right way is something that has been debated because what is right to a man is deemed to be subjective.  Yet, there is nothing subjective about the divine truth.  This week’s Sunday School commentary covers Proverbs 4:10-15, 20-27.

The Book of Proverbs

The proverbs of Solomon are filled with his wise words of encouragement.  Throughout this book, you will notice that Solomon speaks to a son.  However, the son that Solomon spoke to is not a literal son of his, but rather, Solomon was speaking in general to the youth.  

Solomon is a good person to share such a message because he was one who had strayed from the Lord.  1 Kings 11:5 tells us how Solomon went after Ashtoreth and Milcom, false gods of the Sidonians and the Ammonites.  What was it that led Solomon to do such a thing, even though God had blessed him?  1 Kings 11:1 tells us that Solomon loved many foreign women.

Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, which helped to turn his heart away from the Lord (1 Kgs. 11:3).  Those whom he had married were all foreign, meaning they weren’t of the children of Israel.  The foreign wives worshiped their own gods, and Solomon built high places so that his wives could worship and make sacrifices to their gods.

Throughout both the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, Solomon shared firsthand experience of what it is like for one to live apart from God.  You see, when Solomon was living apart from God, life was not pleasant for him – there was no joy.  So, Solomon did not want the youth to make such a terrible mistake with their lives and he wrote both of these books.

The Two Paths

In Proverbs 14:12, we are told that there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.  To me, this one verse is key to understanding why the Book of Proverbs was written.  Solomon desired to share his wisdom so that nobody would go down the path whose end is death. 

In Proverbs 4:10-15, Solomon expressed that there are multiple paths one can take in life, but ultimately, there are two mindsets to choose between living by.  One may choose to move in the “way of wisdom” or go down the “path of the wicked”.  What makes one way the wise way and the other the path of the wicked?

The way of wisdom

Proverbs 1:7, a significant scripture in all of the Bible, tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Here is a statement that speaks of how wisdom is with God, and this is what we, the sincere believers, believe in.  

God is the Creator of all things.  As Paul wrote in Colossians 1:16, God is the creator of all things known and that which is unknown to us.  Because God is the Creator and Almighty, that means that He set the rules and laws that govern all of creation.  Simply put, if He is the one who established the laws which are bound to His creation, then He must know everything about His creation!

This is a thought that the Lord raised with Job the day Job questioned God’s doings (Job 38-39).  The Lord asked Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Who determined its measurements (Job 38:4,5)?”  The Lord asked Job, “Where is the way to the dwelling of light?  And darkness, where is its place (Job 38:19).”

For his part, Job had no response when God challenged him on what he thought he knew.  On man’s part today, many have the audacity to site that there is no God according to their wisdom.  Yet, man has to hypothesize and theorize, making educated guesses about how things work, whereas God knows and has the truth.

God’s way is wise because He has the truth.  Sure, one may argue against this and doubt it, but who is man to doubt and question the Lord (Rom. 9:20-21)?  

It is better for one to be led by the Holy Spirit, whose role is to guide us into all truth, than for a man to disregard the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).  As Jesus put it, one who walks in the day, while they have the light, will not stumble (John 11:9).  It is better to be able to move about, being able to see, so that you don’t fall.

The path of the wicked

The path of the wicked lacks God’s truth.  Yet, those who walk down the path of the wicked will say that they have the truth.  To repeat Proverbs 14:12, the truth that they have leads to destruction.

In John 8, a contentious argument is recorded between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees.  You see, Jesus had shown mercy to a woman whom the scribes and Pharisees were ready to stone to death for her sin (John 8:3-11).  Jesus then announced that He was the light of the world and invited others to follow Him (John 8:12).

The scribes and Pharisees argued that Jesus’ witness was not true (John 8:13).  The scribes and Pharisees made this argument, believing that they had the truth.  Their truth was supposedly in the law of Moses, the law of God, but those men did not live in accordance to the law.

In fact, because they had rejected Jesus, He told the scribes and Pharisees that they were under another law.  Jesus said that they did the deeds of their father, the devil, as they shared his same desires (John 8:42-44).

Satan rebelled against God’s way and was the first to do so while he was in heaven.  Satan was filled with pride and ego as he believed his way, his truth, to be better than God’s truth (Is. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:16-19).  Like the scribes and Pharisees, there are many today who are filled with this same spirit, truly believing their way is better than God’s way.

  Yet again, the path of the wicked lacks the truth.  As Jesus put it, it is a path that is shrouded in darkness.  One who walks in the night stumbles, not knowing where they are going (John 11:10; 12:35).  In other words, one who goes the path of the wicked is one who wanders around lost in their soul with no way out of the dark tunnel.  The only thing that awaits such a one is death.

How to Embrace Godly Wisdom

So, in Proverbs 4:14-15, Solomon is essentially pleading for the youth not to take a path that he once took.  Solomon, I repeat, had a great understanding of what the path being apart from God was like and did not want the youth to waste their days going down such a path.  

A great concern for today is how sin is putting in one of its greatest efforts to lure people, especially the youth, away from God.  Sin enjoys the bitterness and the hatred of this day.  Sin enjoys when we are at each other’s throats over our petty differences.  You see, sin has perpetuated the fighting over our differences for a long time because sin has a desire to hinder all progress of living in a godly manner.

We must embrace godly living today, especially all of us who are supposed to be mature of faith.  Yes, we must embrace godly wisdom for ourselves, but also for the future generations to come.  Young minds are impressionable and I can only imagine what their minds are choosing to mimic today.  The thoughts honestly frightens me!  

So, how do we go about embracing godly living?  We will see that Proverbs 4:20-27 shares helpful words on how one embraces godly wisdom to avoid the path of the wicked.

God’s word will keep you

Solomon said that one should heed godly wisdom and “keep them in the midst” of their heart.  In the day that Satan tempted Jesus, it was God’s word – godly wisdom – that defeated the devil’s temptation (Matt. 4:1-11).

I want you to keep in mind that the role of the Holy Spirit is to guide you into all truth.  The Holy Spirit will call to your remembrance the word of God which has been planted inside of you by the Lord (John 14:26).  The Holy Spirit will never lead you astray from the way of wisdom.

Always consider your spirit

Solomon encouraged one to keep their heart with all diligence.  This speaks of shielding and protecting one’s soul.  How do we shield and protect our soul from those who seek to destroy it?

The child of God must put forth their best effort to heed the Holy Spirit’s voice.  Solomon encouraged that one put away from them a deceitful mouth and perverse lips.  Solomon encouraged one to remain focused on the Lord.  

The child of God must devote themselves to living by God’s word.  In our devotion, we have to consider what it is that we consume in our lives.  In Solomon’s case, he began to consume the ways of his foreign wives.  You and I have to consider who we are surrounded by and what they provide us on a spiritual level.  Are those you are surrounded by helping to provide your soul with the right spiritual nourishment?

Is the media that you consume healthy for your soul?  What I mean by this is what you watch, read, or listen to, helping to uplift your soul or poison it?  The child of God must do a better job of loving their soul and caring for it.  When we truly love our soul, we will put forth our best effort to live for the Lord.  When we truly love our soul, we will put forth our best efforts to embrace His way and never stray from it.