The Wise Life – Prov 14
God through Solomon gives us more pearls of amazing wisdom in Proverbs 14. Here are a just a few:
v.2 Our attitude about God impacts everything we do. If we fear the Lord, we will walk in uprightness. If we despise the Lord, we will be perverse in our ways (going our own way without caring what God wants).
v.4 Progress is messy. Farmers who like how much more effective they are with an ox (or a tractor, etc) must put up with a messy feeding trough (‘crib’). All of us who want to be more effective must embrace the mess, the pain, and the challenge that often comes along with progress.
v.6 Our attitude about learning great affects how much we learn. If we are a scorner (pridefully boast about how much we know and mock others), then we will not find wisdom no matter how much we ‘seek’ it. If we are a person of understanding, then we will be teachable and will find knowledge comes easily. (See also Proverbs 1:5.)
v.13 Just because a person is laughing doesn’t mean they are happy. The laughter and mirth of this world still have sorrow behind them and end in heaviness. The joy that God gives flows from the heart and from the Holy Spirit within us.
v.30 Envy rots our bones. If our heart is sound (healthy, has the right perspective on life – God’s perspective), then our whole body will enjoy life. If we have envy in our heart, then we will rot from the inside out.
- How is our attitude toward the Lord today?
- Are we willing to deal with the mess that often comes with progress?
- Are we teachable?
- Do we have real joy?
- Do we care that the laughs of those who don’t know God are really masks for their pain?
- And how is our heart – full of envy or healthy?