Wisdom #11

Drink From God's Well With God's Resources

Last week, we talked about the danger of seeking wisdom from outside the Kingdom of God.  This week, we focus on how we can make sure to draw our wisdom from God's wells and not the world's.  What are the results of this God-centered wisdom and what does it take to get these results?  We answer these questions and more below:

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In Proverbs 5:15, we are told to drink out of our own cisterns and wells.  This is commonly thought of as a reference to marriage and that we should not be unequally yoked with those in the world.  While this is an accurate interpretation of the verse, it is not the message being presented.

Symbols of Influence

Water in the Bible is sometimes a symbol of the Spirit and it's moving on and through us.  You can find examples in Isaiah 12 and 44, 58, Zechariah 14 and those are just ones that relate to what Christ referenced in John 7.  Clearly, water is a symbol of the life giving properties of God's Spirit as He relates with us.  Thus to drink from our own cisterns and wells is to drink from the sources of God and His Spirit with the resources He has given us.

The next scripture (v.16-18) tells us to let our fountains be spread abroad, and we are not to forsake the wife of our youth..  Once again, the marital application is highly influential here, but we can't discount what we've already learned about symbols in Proverbs.  As waters symbolize spiritual influence, a woman also symbolizes wisdom.  What he is saying here is this:

Let the spiritual influence of God be spread throughout your life and area of influence, and don't forsake the wisdom you received from the outset of your relationship with God.

God has put things in us from the very beginning of our relationship that will help us along the way.  We can't forsake them for the world's ways, but instead spread them into every area of our lives and the lives of those around us.  If we do this we will be blessed and that leads into our next scripture (v. 19).

Four Benefits of Relating With God

This scripture lets us know what we should let the wisdom of the Lord do for us.  If we do not forsake it for other beliefs and practices, we will have answers for our situations and growth in relationship with God.  We will get something more, though:

• The love and grace of God freely given (Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe)

• Satisfaction from spiritual sustenance (let her breasts satisfy thee at all times)

• Being overcome by the passion of God (and be thou ravished always with her love)

These four things (love, grace-also known as favor, satisfaction and passion) come from submitting to a relationship with Christ and letting His waters of wisdom satisfy us.  All four of them can do great things in us and through us if we allow them to activate to their fullest potential.  The love of God working in us and through us can give us a new perspective on ourselves and the world around us.  Grace, or favor from God, offers us the confidence we need to walk with God knowing we will succeed.  Satisfaction gives us comfort knowing we are fulfilled by God and His ways.  Passion drives us to go and do great things for the Kingdom of God, things we would never do without it in our possession.

A Line In The Sand

We are then asked (v. 20-23) why we would ever want to pursue the ways of the world to find love, favor satisfaction and passion.  Only that which comes from God is worth pursuing.  This section of scripture draws the line in the sand and expresses that we must be committed to God or we will be consumed by the world. If we will be committed to God, we will become established and reap the benefits of His wisdom for us. 

Activation:

Drink from the wells God has established in your life with the resources He has given you
Wells are every area of your life that God has authority over and the testimonies He has given you
Resources include prayer, fasting, the Word, your spiritual gifts, and other people
See how going to these wells and using these resources unleash the big 4 in your life