Wisdom #22

Wisdom That Reveals The World

We jump forward a few chapters in Proverbs to chapter 23 this week.  The previous chapters handle several recent topics that we've discussed and are good supplemental material to those lessons as they expand on them.  Proverbs 23 provides us with a new tool that wisdom gives us: Spiritual Vision. 

Note: our Pure in Heart Series goes into even greater depth on this subject.  Check it out in the devotion section of our website.

What Is Spiritual Vision?

Spiritual Vision is being able to see things in a clear spiritual context.   We can see the world as it is and know our place in it within the Kingdom of God.  Where does Spiritual Vision Start? In the heart (v. 15, 19).  When we decide to let God's ways enter into the deepest recesses of our lives, we open ourselves up to His rich blessings for us.  One of those blessings is being able to see God and His ways (Matthew 5:8).  In order to see God and His ways, we must first make sure our passion and our purpose are purified in the precepts of God's Word and will.  When we get to that point, we'll notice our world through a different lens.  This new perspective will save us from destruction

What Spiritual Vision Allows Us To See

Over Consumption Ruins (v.20-21)

This scripture focuses on drinking and eating to success, and those are two things that have run rampant throughout global society in the modern world.  However, his message here can apply to all areas.  Clothes, possessions, houses and hobbies can all become sources of over consumption in our lives.  It's not so much that we have too many of these items, but rather that we desire them to a riotous level. When we look to accrue stuff as passionately as an alcoholic searches for the next bottle or a glutton the next meal, we are falling to over consumption and it will ruin us.  Spiritual Vision allows us to see things for their value in our lives and helps to give our passions and resources to areas that will truly benefit us and the Kingdom of God.

Listening To The Right Voices (v. 22-25)

It might seem odd that a devotion on vision is talking about listening, but it's not so much what we're listening as who we are listening that is the topic here.  The world has a million voices clamoring to get your attention.  They offer dreams and ideas of grandeur, but their end is often found in the gutter.  It is only through Spiritual Vision that we can find the right voice in our life.

In this Proverb, the voice is the parents and that is true for many people.  A good and God-centered home is the best place for instruction.  However, not every home is blessed with two good parents.  For these situations, it takes God's direction all the more to guide the individual towards a God-centered person to serve as surrogate.  Esther had Mordecai and these people can find a spiritual influence as well.  It just takes Spiritual Vision to find them.  Other people besides parents who are good voices are pastors, Sunday School teachers, godly relatives and trusted elders in the church.  If all else fails, there is always God and He is the best voice to have and one we all need to make sure is present in our lives.

The Ways of The World Trap and Devour Us (v. 27-28)

Next we are given a warning against whores and strange women.  While this is great practical advice, it is also a metaphor about the ways of the world.  We have mentioned in previous Activations that women are symbols of faith and religion and strange women or whores are considered to be false or diluted religion.  They allure and entice us with their "new" way of thinking and the freedom that comes from following their path.  It starts our great, but we slowly start to lose sight of God's plan as things get focused on this new faith's ideas rather than the Bible.   Eventually, we cannot see or hear God in anything we do and our spirit feels void of substance.  We must not fall into the trap of wayward thinking.  We must stand firm in our faith and search the scripture daily with prayer and supplication to ensure we are headed in the right direction.  If not, we can end up in a pit of lies that consumes us.

Let God Lead

The world offers a lot of opportunity to fail.  It masks it amongst the good things of God and tries to draw us in and keep us lingering in its presence and not God's.  When we get sucked into things of this world, we open ourselves up for the world to speak its ways into our lives.  Before long, we start following its ways and find ourselves trapped in a pit of despair.  Worse yet, we won't even realize how we got to this point (v.35).  The only way to avoid it is to commit to God and His ways.  Let the Lord guide us in what we should bring into our lives.  Let the Lord lead us to the voices we should be listening to.  Let the Lord's precepts and principles be our foundation that we will not leave, even for the newest and best ideas.  If we we will let the Lord lead from our hearts, we will have the Spiritual Vision necessary to make it in this life.  Then, we'll truly have wisdom for each day.

Activation:

Commit to reading the Bible for the purpose of leading you in your daily actions
Supplement this reading with prayers that activate the scripture into your life
Commit to letting God lead you through your daily actions
See where He brings you and what you see to avoid and embrace throughout the day.