One of the things I am always looking for with these Proverbs are the subtle ‘if-then’ prompts.  In the first few verses of today’s reading, we see the ‘if you do this’ phrasing, as follows in verses 1-5:

My son, if you receive my words

and treasure up my commandments with you,

making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

yes, if you call out for insight

and raise your voice for understanding,

if you seek it like silver

and search for it as for hidden treasures,

then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

And there is more ‘then...’ to come.  That appears to be what most of the rest of the chapter is about...the ‘then’.

We are told that it is a path and a shield; that wisdom will come into our hearts, discretion will watch over us, and that our souls will be comforted in that.  It will come over us and be available, wisdom, and it will make our paths straight and that it will insulate us from wickedness, from evil.

For us men, it will guard us against the evil woman...a temptation to which men of this world constantly fall pray.

And then today’s chapter ends with a basic statement that living in wisdom is the way to flourish in this world, and that the evil will be cutoff from the world.  Again, this isn’t saying that bad things never happen to good people, and I am not going to replay that track over and over again, but as we get started, it is at least important to make sure this is front-and-center in our minds, that God is laying out a general pattern for how the world works for us.  And, integrity and living in wisdom are the path most likely to lead to success.  And, since we know that planning on winning the lottery isn’t a viable plan for retirement, neither is ignoring the way God made the world and expecting a great outcome.  We need to use the tools God gives us.

Apart from that, I know from my own personal experience that when I am living in wisdom, I feel better.  It is like I was made with this internal sense of ought and ought not...and I think most people have this as well, unless they’ve ignored it for so long that they can’t hear that voice anymore.  That ought and ought not is an imprint of God on me, and on you.

For today, I am going to start asking myself this question throughout the day as I facing decisions, big and small, “What’s the WISE thing to do?”.  Not, “What can I get away with right here?”, and not “What can I justify to myself and to others?”, but “What’s the WISE thing to do?”.  That is an incredibly powerful question and we’ll talk more about that in the coming weeks, but today is really just the setup for that.