Since life is fraught with all kinds of peril, that we are doing the right thing? How do we know if we are doing what is wise, or what is foolish? The book of Proverbs tells us things that seem to appear rational and things that would appeal to our common sense. Why then, do we sometimes choose foolishness?

I think that even though the Book of Proverbs was written as a guide for living life, sometimes we miss the common sense approach. When I read Proverbs, I am reminded of how simple life should be, but how complicated we sometimes make it. Reading Proverbs humbles me, and makes me realize that I should glorify God.

Proverbs 1 introduces us to what the Book of Proverbs is. After reading this chapter, the passage that stands out to me is verse 7: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. I have experienced first hand how true this statement can be. Even though I knew what the right decisions were during periods of my life, I have chosen the foolish decision. After making these decisions and hitting dead ends, I began to fear God and respect His Word.

The wise way is not always the easy way. I sometimes choose foolishness over wisdom when I vent my anger, rather then control it (Proverb 29:11), or I choose foolishness over wisdom when I revel at someone else's misfortune (Proverbs 24:17). I have learned that by trusting in God I can overcome these things. While I sometimes revert to my old ways, I have found that by trusting in the Lord and that by fearing Him, I can begin to gain the knowledge that he will lead me down the path that leads to humility and wisdom.

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As a Christian do you assume "it will all work out"? I tend to make that assumption and almost use it as a crutch. Just when I'm rolling along and not necessarily communing with God as I should, I realize how important it is to seek Him and learn more from His Word. I suppose this boils down to being human and feeling like "I have control", but His Word does command me to pursue a daily relationship with Him. If I am obedient I will grow in my spirituality and seek His wisdom over my feelings. My feelings tend to lead me down the wrong path and away from my daily walk with Christ....I guess you could say that I get cocky and have the "I'm a good person" attitude.

Read 1 Cor 28:10, Psalm 32:8, Psalm 119:105 and Proverbs 24:3-7

The book of Proverbs speaks about wisdom versus foolishness many times, read Proverbs 3 and be reminded of the benefits of God's wisdom in your life.

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Proverbs 1:2 tells us that the purpose of these proverbs "is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise."

The Proverbs of Solomon tell us so much about how to live life. They are instructional, helpful, insightful, and often funny. Certain parts of the Proverbs seem a bit disjointed to me, like a collection of wise sayings. But buried within them I always find some bits of real truth that applies directly to my life. It seems that so many of the struggles and issues that I deal with have been part of our human experience throughout history. I'm not so different from the rest of you, even though sometimes I might think I'm the only one who suffers
the problems I face.

I know that I could benefit a whole lot if I read my bible more. I don't often slow down long enough from all my other activities to stop and absorb God's wisdom for my life. When I do find time to read my bible, I always gain some insight into my present struggles. So maybe I will try to start spending more time with my bible open. Will you?

Proverbs 1:7 warns us "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

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Personally, I had to read Proverbs 1:1-7 a couple times before I could get what it was saying, so just incase you're like me, let me save you the trouble of researching this. This scripture reading is a Prologue of the book of Proverbs. It describes what the book of Proverbs is all about. Here is this same scripture reading from The Message bible. After reading this (in a modern day lingo) this scripture made perfect sense to me:

"These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king--Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There's something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn--Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women. Start with God--the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning."

Does that make more sense? It did for me.

This book of wisdom has been put in the bible so that we may know that wisdom is not for the praise of men but for the glory of God; that we in humility might reflect Christ through the wisdom that has been bestowed upon us through the hearing of and obedience to God's Holy Word. This series "Proverbs" at the Quest should be quite a journey for all of us. I'll be a time for some of us to realize that we are way off from the path God leads, or others may realize that they are headed in the right direction, however, everyone should learn something and become wiser having listened and participated in this series. Please be praying for our community as we continue this series that our minds are opened to learn more and we come knowing that we are not perfect Christians. Through our humility, we will reflect Christ through the wisdom that has been bestowed upon us.

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Dictionary.com defines wisdom as "the ability to apply knowledge, experience, or understanding." In other words, as someone told me once, wisdom is being able to use what you know. Simple knowledge, then, is useless without appropriate action to accompany it.

Over the next few weeks, we're going to hear a lot of different trinkets of wisdom. We're going to hear about the choices we make every day that take our lives in one direction or another. Each choice leads us in one direction or another.

As we hear about which way is considered Biblically wise and which is considered Biblically foolish, we should consider which way we will choose, always remembering that to know what we should do and not do it is sin, and to know the better way and ignore it is, indeed, foolish.

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