Walking with the Wise – Proverbs in Practice
“Let me think about it.” Is that your response, former procrastinators, when wise action is required? Today we look at several proverbs that warn us to separate ourselves from foolishness and danger. Will we act right away?
“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and live, and walk in the way of insight.” Proverbs 9:5-6. Wisdom offers her insight. We need only take hold of it. A simple man will not. “Simple” means “lacks understanding.” Do we fail to see that some media, company, activities, and thinking we engage in are harmful to us? To leave them without delay is to walk in wisdom. To put worthwhile things in their place is wisdom.
“The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.” Proverbs 13:14 Not all preachers or teachers put out life giving water. Some is contrary to God’s Word though it may be couched in Christian terms. Be discerning. Turn away from teaching that entraps us in wrong thinking and harmful results. A friend says reading a book is like having a mentor. We spend time with that author and ponder his or her teaching. We’re influenced by what we read as well as other media. We need to be discerning about what we put in our minds. Is the content true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy? Does it come from a fountain of life or death?
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Proverbs 13:20 What wonderful, succinct counsel! What a basic truth to teach our children. We become like the people we hang out with. We gain wisdom because they are wise – or we are harmed because they are foolish. We are foolish if we choose to spend our time with them. And there’s not really a neutral. There’s advice out there to spend your time with rich people if you want to get rich. You pick up their ways of thinking and see what they do and you begin to imitate them. How much richer to pick up the ways of the wise and imitate them. What ladder is your wall propped against?
“The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12 There are many applications here. Those who lack understanding continue moving toward harm, oblivious to warning. The prudent recognizes there’s a problem or this is the path to harm, and so he “hides himself” – protects himself. She pulls out of the deal, she refuses to cosign, she changes the company she keeps, she stops watching that show, she stays away from the other man. Recognize the problem – or potential problem – and get away from it.
What content, counsel, or company are you paying attention to that is a path to harm? What will you do?
