Proverbs 1.23 Repent
at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you
my teachings. – Wisdom
I find it fascinating that the Proverbs portray Wisdom as
a personality. I think we tend to
think of wisdom, training, and discipline as inanimate things, but not so the
Scripture.
And right out of the gate in Proverbs 1, we find the
personality of Wisdom. Wisdom is
fair-minded, but not to be messed with. God, also is fair-minded, but not to be
messed with. Perhaps the personality of Wisdom in Proverbs actually represents
the personality of God Himself. Seems fitting to me.
Wisdom says: Repent
at my rebuke! God says, repent, and
seek My Kingdom! What Wisdom says is what God says. Wisdom, much like the
revelation of God is an experiential and progressive process. Wisdom does not
offer prizes to the proud, but practice for the prudent. We don’t use the word prudent that much these days. Perhaps a
revival of prudence might be of
benefit for many people.
There is a humility that accompanies Wisdom, it’s called repentance – and the relationship with
Wisdom only begins when one heeds Wisdom’s advice. Up until that point, Wisdom
only views what we do as foolish, self-centered and disastrous. Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come
near.” Repent from what? Repent of leaving Almighty God out of our everyday
life.
Wisdom is not for the foolish or faint in heart. Wisdom,
is learning the hard way. Wisdom is learning how to think things through and
realizing the consequences or rewards of our actions beforehand. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1.7) In
other words, knowledge comes from God and is equated as wisdom and instruction,
but is only available to the one who fears (respects) God. Tough call for some.
To understand Wisdom, we must also include the love of
God for His creation – all of us, including, you and me. I think we
underestimate the power of sin upon our race, and we routinely disregard the
need for God in our daily living. In doing so we overlook how special we are to
God. We talk of God’s love so much that it is, in our minds, trite. That’s
because sin has dumbed us down to accepting only our own way as the way.
We see ourselves as dependent upon ourselves. My dad used
to say, God helps those who help themselves.
That is faulty theology he probably learned being a child of the depression and
the Great War. I think what he meant was: God
expects the individual to take responsibility for his actions. He may have
been onto something there, if that is what he meant. We need Wisdom to take
responsibility.
But God only helps those who turn to Him for help – the word,
‘turn’ means, repent. Repentance is
both an Old and New Testament concept. Repentance means I am willing to turn
from my ways and accept only God’s ways. True repentance only works when I truly
turn.
Father in Heaven,
Wisdom’s rebuke is falling on my mind today. As I look at the wreckage of my
life and what is laying in its wake, I can only fall on my face in utter shame,
and repent! Help me God to be an ‘A’ student in the front row of Wisdom’s
school, and to be quick to listen and quick to repent. Amen.
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