Proverbs 2:1-22

IF … THEN … SO… These are the three words that jump out at me from this Proverb.  Solomon teaches his son and us that IF we seek for wisdom THEN God will bless us with wisdom SO we will be able to avoid sin and be blessed of God.  As we go through Proverbs over the next few weeks I feel that it is important to remember that Proverbs are Proverbs not promises.  A Proverb is a wise saying that is an observation about life and the way that it works.  It is not a promise that always comes true in everybody’s life.  These are not formulas that will never have any exceptions; they are principles that usually hold true.  We will find this pattern of IF, THEN, SO in many of the Proverbs and they are always very excellent for us to follow but we must remember that they are Proverbs.

IF WE SEEK WISDOM: Seeking wisdom is vital to being wise.  We seek the things that we value and it is of utmost importance that we place a high value on wisdom.  Wisdom almost always comes to us in the form of teachings from the people that God as put in authority in our lives.  The first way that we can seek for wisdom is by listening and paying close attention to these people.  We should do all we can to listen to the instructions of our parents and other leaders and find a way to remember and value them.  Too often we let the valuable instruction of our elders just pass over our ears without ever guarding them in our heart.  If we want to be wise we must learn to treasure the Word of God and those who teach us the Word of God.  Young people are often bored by the instruction of older people and fail to pay attention to the teaching of God’s Word.  We must not fall into that trap.  We must love instruction, honor those who teach us and long to know the Word of God more completely.  Instruction in the Word of God should be the cry from and the treasure of our hearts.

THEN GOD WILL GRANT WISDOM: There is nothing that God wants to do more than reveal Himself and all of His glory and wisdom to us.  God is all-wise and He possesses all knowledge and He loves to bestow it upon those who fear Him, love instruction and seek wisdom.  When He sees a man or woman that is upright in their walk and longs to be instructed in His Word He pours out His wisdom upon them.  He becomes a shield and protector of those who live in integrity and He allows them to experience great understanding.  He will minister into our hearts a knowledge that will be pleasant to us and help us to avoid the pitfalls of folly that surround us in a sin-cursed world.

SO WE WILL WALK IN WISDOM: Once we have been granted the wisdom that God makes available to us we will be able to walk in true wisdom.  Walking is wisdom has two aspects to it.  First we must learn to avoid the path of sin and destruction, second we must learn to follow the path of righteousness.  One of the greatest temptations that we face is sexual temptations.  Sex is a wonderful blessing from God when practiced according to the principles of the Word of God.  However, it is a pleasure that can be so easily perverted so that it becomes an idol in our lives that leads us down the path of destruction.  If we are wise we will be able to avoid that trap and if we can avoid that trap we can avoid just about any trap.  Sexual sin becomes a life dominating sin and it is almost impossible to escape from destruction once we give into sexual temptation.  The wise will avoid that path all together.  The path that God has chosen for us to walk in is a path of integrity and righteousness that leads to security and spiritual prosperity.  We must cry out for this type of wisdom so that we can experience the true pleasure that He has prepared for us on the path of wisdom.