Wisdom

Today I read Proverbs 1. It's GOOD!

Wisdom is personified.

In verse 21 and 22, Wisdom is crying out to us, "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?"

How long will we reject wisdom and continue to live in our foolishness? For even if God had foolishness, it would still be MUCH MORE WISE than we could ever try to be (1 Corinthians 1). So if Wisdom wants to be a part of us, why are we rejecting him?

He will call and call and call but we will reject him. Then finally when we are done acting foolish and decide to call upon wisdom because now we are ready for him, he will not answer nor will he be found.

Proverbs 1:28-31 "Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices."

Do not think that because we serve a merciful God that He won't punish you for your actions against God.

We also see this in Hosea.

I/we/Israel represent Gomer, the prostitute. We run all over the place worshipping every other god but the One above who gives us all things. We pursue other lovers and give them thanks and credit for giving us food, drink, and clothing (Hosea 2:5 "For their mother ahs played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wood and my flax, my oil and drink.'")

We waste so much time seeking 'fancier' things, money, 'better' jobs, acceptance, and/or love. Then we finally realize that God is SO MUCH better than any earthly thing! He alone gives us joy, happiness, LOVE, and satisfaction in ALL situations, whether monetarily rich or poor. So we return to Him, our first love. And the first thing He must do is punish us. Hosea 2:9-10,12 "Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her out of my hand...And I will lay waster her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, 'These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.' I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them."

The Lord IS a JUST God. He can give and He can take away.

Don't you know that when you were a child, if you didn't get punished for something, you more than likely did the exact same thing AGAIN, received maybe a harsher scolding, and maybe did it again. Well, the Lord is our Father. If He does not punish us, won't we go back and do the same old foolish things over and over and over again? Probably so.

The Lord's punishment is a good thing. As hard as it may be. It keeps us from running away from Him, it pulls us closer to Him, it teaches us how merciful He really is, and how loving He is. Consider it pure joy.

Hosea 2:14-16 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.'"

Oh the Lord draws us close to Him. Why? Because I most certainly do not deserve for the Lord of Lords and King of Kings to allure me to Himself or to be called a child of God.

If verses 19-20 don't excite you, I don't know what will!!

"And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord."

In my study Bible the note that it has for know the Lord says, The essence of the new covenant relationship involves knowing the Lord intimately (Jer 31:34). Today Christ mediates this new covenant and renders the old covenant relationship obsolete (Heb. 8:7-13).

WOW!! And We shall KNOW the Lord! We shall sit at His precious feet and sing praises unto His name because He is Holy, unlike any other. Because we would still be seeking out so many other lovers had He not always been there with us every step of the way.