Proverbs – Life Skills
Wisdom is looking ahead but not too far ahead, so we don’t stumble over the present. Wisdom is seeing the next step and taking it gingerly with the destination clearly set in our minds. Wisdom is not only knowing but is driven by focused following. It is taking the path that is the best, right and good with the best outcomes.
Who knows the best path? Who is the Navigator of our lives?
Proverbs 2 (The Message)
1-5 Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,
and won’t take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
6-8 And here’s why: God gives out Wisdom free, is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.
He’s a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well, a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.
He keeps his eye on all who live honestly,
and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.
9-15 So now you can pick out what’s true and fair,
find all the good trails!
Lady Wisdom will be your close friend,
and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.
Good Sense will scout ahead for danger,
Insight will keep an eye out for you.
They’ll keep you from making wrong turns,
or following the bad directions
Of those who are lost themselves
and can’t tell a trail from a tumbleweed,
These losers who make a game of evil
and throw parties to celebrate perversity,
Traveling paths that go nowhere,
wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends.
16-19 Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress— that smooth-talking Seductress
Who’s faithless to the husband she married years ago,
never gave a second thought to her promises before God.
Her whole way of life is doomed;
every step she takes brings her closer to hell.
No one who joins her company ever comes back,
ever sets foot on the path to real living.
20-22 So—join the company of good men and women,
keep your feet on the tried-and-true paths.
It’s the men who walk straight who will settle this land,
the women with integrity who will last here.
The corrupt will lose their lives;
the dishonest will be gone for good.
GOING DEEPER STILL..
Search and pan for the golden nuggets of wisdom and you will find God. Only then will we realize the real treasure of wisdom is found in knowing and following God’s best for us.
God’s wisdom is free for the asking but you must seek Him first to find it. He gives grace to the humble, common sense to the seekers of wisdom with protection and provision for those whose hearts are completely committed to Him. Those who follow the Navigator of all that is right and good find all they were looking for in life.Wisdom, common sense, insight and understanding that comes from the Source and Creator will guide us step by step as we follow in His footsteps…the first footsteps to walk His created earth.
The warning buzzers will go off in our minds when we are tempted by a path that looks beautiful and right but leads to outcomes that hurt us or even worse, murder our good intentions of living well and bring death to our souls.
Seek wise friends who help each other stay on the right path. It is a matter of life and death!HOLY PAUSE
What will be the results of the way we are thinking and living right now?
Who are my wise friends? Who are my not-so-wise friends?
Who is my ultimate Navigator for real, lasting, forever life?
Dear Lord,
I thank you for the wise friends who came into my life at various time on my journey with You. I thank you for wise friends I have now. I thank you as my one and only, ultimate Navigator, Savior and Lord.
Help me to stay on the right path. Keep me focused on You, the Way Maker, Miracle worker, Promise keeper, Light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are! Overwhelm my life with your wisdom.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 