Wisdom Perfects your path

The road or the path the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come. Prov 4:18

The picture is that of the sunrise ("the first gleam ofdawn," NIV) and the increasing of the light on the our path as the dayadvances. If we walk in the way of God's wisdom, the path getsbrighter and brighter and there is no sunset! When the path ends, we step into a land where the lightnever dims, for "there shall be no night there" (Rev. 22:5). God has a plan for each of us his children (Eph. 2:10), andif we walk in His wisdom, we can confidently say, "You will do everything youhave promised; Complete the work that you have begun (Ps. 138:8).

Our path may not be an easy one, but it will always be afulfilling one as we walk in the will of the Father.

This involves three responsibilities on our part:

Knowing God's Word(Proverbs 4:1–9).

Some children don't like to hear Dad say, "Now, back when Iwas a boy . . ." but they might learn a lot if they paid attention andlistened. Solomon learned wisdom from his father and now he's passingit on to the next generation. This is the primary way God has ordained for His truth to bepreserved and invested from generation to generation

…remember this! The Lord- and the Lord alone - is our God. Love the Lord your Godwith all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Never forget thesecommands that I am giving you today. Teach them to yourchildren. Repeat them when youare at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you areworking. Deuteronomy 6:4-7

"Get wisdom" (Prov. 4:5) suggests, "buy wisdom," because theHebrew word carries the idea of a commercial transaction. There's a price to pay if you want to know God's truth andobey it.

Truth, wisdom, learning, and good sense - these are worthpaying for, but too valuable for you to sell. Prov 23:23

Parents and grandparents can teach us, but only we canreceive the Word into our hearts, treasure it, and pay the price to obey it.Trusting God'sprovidence (Proverbs 4:10–19). When you receive God's truth into your heart, God renewsyour mind (Rom. 12:2) and enables you to think wisely. This helps you make right decisions and experience theguidance of God day by day. God in His loving providence directs us andprepares the path for us.

Augustine said, "Trust the past to the mercy of God, thepresent to His love, and the future to His providence." But King David said it better long before Augustine:

"You will show me the path of life;
in Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Ps. 16:11,NKJV).

If you are willing to do God's will, you will have God'sguidance (John 7:17), but if you treat God's will like a buffet lunch, choosingonly what pleases you, He will never direct you. But we can't expect God's leading if we shuttle back andforth between the path of wisdom and the path of the wicked (Prov. 4:14–17). Stay as far away from the path of the wicked as you can! Don't enter it! Avoid it! Don't go near it! Go as far from it as you can!

Certainly we must witness to unsaved people whom the Lordbrings to us, but we must never adopt their lifestyle or imitate their ways.God doesn't guide His children when they're walking indarkness. When you're living in the will of God, the path getsbrighter and brighter, not darker and darker (1 John 1:5–10).The danger is that we let the lessons of wisdom slip throughour fingers and we lose them.

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go. Prov 4:13

Hold on to wisdom the way a child holds a parent's hand andtrusts Mother or Father to guide and protect. God is able to keep us from stumbling (Jude 24) if we'llkeep ourselves in His wisdom.

Obeying God's will(Proverbs 4:20–27)

Pay attention to whatI say, my son. Listen to my words. Never let them getaway from you. Remember them and keepthem in your heart. They will give lifeand health to anyone who understands them. Be careful how youthink; your life is shaped by your thoughts. Never say anythingthat isn't true. Have nothing to do with lies and misleading words. Look straight aheadwith honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame.Plan carefully whatyou do, and whatever you do will turn out right. Avoid evil and walkstraight ahead. Don't go one step off the right way.

This is a wonderful paragraph to us as a personal spiritualinventory to see if we're really living in obedience to the Lord. Let's ask ourselves:

"What comes into my ears?" v20
Pay attention to what I say, my son. Listen to mywords. Whatever enters my ears will ultimately influence my mind,my heart, and my decisions, so I'd better be careful what I listen to. Paul warns us to beware of "obscenity, foolish talk orcoarse joking" (Eph. 5:4, NIV), Psalm 1:1 tells us to avoid ungodly counsel. When people speak, we must be able to identify God's voice(John 10:3–5, 16) and obey what He says.

"What is within my heart?" v.23
Be careful how you think; your life is shaped byyour thoughts. Whatever the heart loves, the ears will hear and the eyeswill see. When our children were small, no matter where we were driving, theycould usually find the ice cream shops and the toy stores; I must confess thatI managed to locate the gadget shops! The NIV puts it this way "Above all else, guard your heart,for it is the wellspring of life". If we pollute that wellspring, the infection will spread;before long, hidden appetites will become open sins and public shame.

The Bible warns us to:

"What is upon my lips?" v. 24
Never say anything that isn't true. Have nothing to do with lies and misleading words. Whatever is in the heart will ultimately come out of themouth (Matt. 12:33–34). We must be careful to have "sound speech that cannot becondemned" (Titus 2:8), speech that's gracious and "seasoned with salt" (Col.4:6, NKJV). The ancient Romans, listening to one of their orators, wouldlook at each other, smile, and say, "Take it with a grain of salt." ButChristians are supposed to put the salt into their speech and keep theirwords pure and honest.As we shall see in a later chapter, Proverbs has a greatdeal to say about human speech; in fact, the word "mouth" is used over fiftytimes and the word "lips" over forty times in the Authorized Version. Among other things, Solomon warns us about

"He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaksrashly will come to ruin" (13:3, NIV).

"What is before my eyes?" v. 25
Lookstraight ahead with honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame. Outlook determines outcome.

Everybody has some vision before them that helps todetermine their values, actions, and plans. We would all be wise to imitate David who said, "I will setno wicked thing before mine eyes" (Ps. 101:3), the writer of Psalm 119 who prayed, "Turn my eyes away fromworthless things" (v. 37, NIV). If you are "looking unto Jesus" (Heb. 12:2) as you walk thepath of life, then keep that posture of faith. If you look back (Luke 9:62) or around (Matt. 14:30), youmay go on a detour.

"What is beyond my path?" vv. 26–27
In his final speech before he drank the hemlock, Socratessaid, "The unexamined life is not worth living" ; Paul wrote, (2 Cor. 13:5, NKJV) "Examine yourselves as towhether you are in the faith. Test yourselves" The Lord is weighing our ways (Prov. 5:21) and our hearts(Prov 21:2), as well as our actions (1 Sam. 2:3), and we had better do thesame.

Life is too short and too precious to be wasted on the temporary and the trivial. If we're walking in the way of wisdom, God promises to protect our path, direct our path, and perfect our path. All folly can offer us is danger, detours, and disappointments, ultimately leading to death. It shouldn't be too difficult to make the right choice!