Friendly Wisdom

Do you listen when God speaks to you? You may say, ...but God doesn't speak to me." God speaks to those who are willing to hear His voice. Last week we read in Proverbs 2:1-2 about listening to the voice of wisdom, seeking it as a treasure. Proverbs 2:10 carries on this message about seeking wisdom. It says you will find wisdom, and knowledge will be pleasant to you. This parallels Matthew 7:7 as well as Luke 11:9, where they both say "seek and you will find".

The next verse, Proverbs 2:11, gives the basic result of this wisdom and knowledge. With wisdom comes discretion; with knowledge comes understanding. Could a man without wisdom know when to be discreet, or a man without knowledge understand even the most simple of things?

Next, we are given two sets of examples of this discretion and understanding. We're only going to look at the first one this week, and come back to the second one next Friday. Proverbs 2:12-15 talks about wicked men that wisdom will save us from. Proverbs 2:16-19 tells us about wicked women that wisdom will save us from.

If we're claim to be saved from wicked men by the wisdom and knowledge that comes from seeking God, how can we defend having close friends fitting the description of wicked men in Proverbs 2:12-15? Likewise, if we're close friends with other men fitting that description, how likely are we to spend time earnestly praying and seeking God? We often say things like "don't judge me by the people I hang out with", but truly, the people we hang out with shows a lot about our own character.

Let us learn and strive to seek out other Godly men as our closest friends. We don't need wicked friends drawing us into things we wouldn't otherwise be involved in. The wisdom of God makes all the difference in discerning who are truly friends worthy of our friendship, and friends that are not.

"Floating" Fish

I've been working on setting up a new aquarium. The interesting thing about adding fish to an aquarium is the means by which you normally add them so that they don't die. You usually get your fish in plastic bags from the fish store, and you first dump off about a quarter of the pet store water, and add that much of your tank water back to the bag. Then you reseal the bag, and drop it in the water. Every 10 minutes you add another cup of your water to the bag for 30 minutes. Then you take the fish out of the bags and put them in the aquarium.

This process is call acclimation; the fish become acclimated to your water. It's how fish get accustomed to the different chemicals in your water that wasn't in the pet store water. In this process, I recognize a pattern that the devil often uses in our lives. Often, we're stuck with having to "just deal" with a little bit of ungodliness. Then a little bit later, after we've gotten used to that, we go for some more. Next thing you know, we're swimming free in the water that would have killed us just a short time ago.

Romans 12:2 says that we shouldn't conform to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We don't have to just let someone watch dirty movies while we're around, or gossip to us, or tell us dirty jokes. Those are the patterns of the world, "Oh, that guy just always tells dirty jokes and I just shrug it off and go on."

Our minds are supposed to be being renewed, we shouldn't be thinking like that any more, and we don't have to listen, watch, or participate in those things just because we're not in our own home. We shouldn't participate in anything that we wouldn't participate in at church. Let's not allow ourselves to be made into the pattern of the world, let's seek God in everything we do, so that we will be found as faithful servants.

Walk the Right Way or Be Blown Away

What kind of people do we let influence us? Psalms 1:1 starts the Psalms out by talking to us about what kind of people we should definitely not listen to: the wicked, sinners, and mockers. Then Psalms 1:2 tells us what the righteous man does: delight in the law of the Lord, and meditate on it day and night. I know I don't always do what God tells me to with a good spirit. Sometimes I want to grumble and complain about how hard it is. Usually, it's also at those times that I'm the absolute furthest from thinking about God continually.

Psalms 1:3 goes on to characterize this righteous man: like a tree planted by water, yielding fruit in it's season, whose leaves don't wither, and whatever he does prospers. Note that this tree always has the water that it needs for survival all the time, but it doesn't always yield fruit. It yields fruit when it's meant to yield fruit, in it's season. But either way, whatever he does prospers. Those righteous endeavors meant for good will be successful, although there's not just a steady stream of fruit from them all the time.

Psalms 1:4 then describes the wicked: chaff blown away by the wind. Chaff is the loose seed coverings, leaves, and stems from grain. The way that you get rid of chaff from your grain is by tossing it up into the air while the wind is blowing, and the wind will catch the light stuff and blow it away, and just the seeds and grain will fall back down. What a terrible thing to be considered the trash that gets blown away from the good stuff. Psalms 1:5 then tells us what sinners can't do: stand in the judgement or the assembly of the righteous.

The "stand" here is from the Greek qûm, literally meaning rise, accomplish, confirm, enjoin, make good, help, lift up, perform, remain, rise, establish, strengthen, or succeed. The wicked and sinners will literally fail at every hand in the judgement and where the righteous assemble. We don't need to do anything but love them and welcome them, their wickedness will quickly separate them unless they turn to God; we don't need to force God on them, but just be an example.

The last thing in the opening chapter of Psalms, Psalms 1:6, is that there are two roads: righteous or wicked. It says God watches over the righteous, but the wicked will die. Which road are we going to walk? I want to walk the righteous road, with God watching over me. I don't want to be blown away with the trash.