Listening to the right wisdo
Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate: How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise. Proverbs 1:20-23
The wisdom of folly is at times so blaring that it drowns out the wisdom that comes from God. This is what the text was addressing, to not ignore the wisdom from God for it leads to life while the wisdom of the world leads to foolishness. There are people around us who will convince us to the wisdom of their opinion. Yet God says that it is not the one who declares his viewpoint the most loudly who is the wisest. Regardless of how convincingly these people defend their viewpoint, it is the result of a practice that proves its validity and not how deafening it is promoted. This is what God is asking people to do, listen to His counsel for in it we will discover His love and will make us wise. “Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.” When we decide to listen to God and obey what He has told us to do, oftentimes such action will be met with resistance and criticism. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ encountered when He was proclaiming the coming Kingdom of God and the religious leaders in that time rejected what He was proclaiming. They would rather stick to their religion and not participate in what Jesus was calling them to do. With this attitude towards godly wisdom, Jesus made this remark; “But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it” (Luke 7:35). There will be those who will disagree with the wisdom of your actions for they are not based on the folly of this world but in time the result of godly wisdom will be manifested in your actions and will vindicate your decision far better than you could through argument. Through the ages, the wisdom found in God’s Word has been tested and proven true. This is why it is important that we measure everything we hear and read in the light of the Scriptures. No matter how loud and popular the wisdom of the world, do not forget these trends in psychology and philosophy come and go but God’s Word is timeless. Whenever you are given the opportunity to share an advice to someone else, make sure that it is guided by your faith in God and your belief in His word and not merely from your best thinking or popular opinion. As long as you base your life choices on the Word of God, time will validate the wisdom of your choices. “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com
