Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 566 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Purpose of Wisdom – Proverbs 1

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 566 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 1 from The Voice translation, which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Let’s begin our trek today with a brief commentary on chapter 1 as we explore and discover…

The Purpose of Wisdom

Here we go! Before we explore the proverbs themselves, which start in Chapter 10, we are first going to explore nine chapters of poems. The point of these poems is to whet your appetite for how important God’s wisdom is in your life. These poems are speeches. Some of the speeches are from father to a son that you get to listen in on. Others are from a character called “Lady Wisdom” and are written directly to you. In Chapter 1, we hear from both of these voices.

· Verses 1-7: The Introduction

Before these speeches, there is an introduction to the entire book. The book opens with a pep-talk about its purpose, and the message is clear—whether or not you think you’ve got life figured out, you need this advice. The introduction ends by saying that gaining wisdom will be impossible if you don’t cultivate humility for God’s authority—“the Fear of the Lord,” a theme that will appear many times in this book. “Only fools despise knowledge and discernment,” concludes verse 7, bringing up the implied question: “Wise or foolish—which are you going to be?”

· Verses 8-19: 1st Speech from Father to Son

After the introduction comes a speech, the first of ten, from father to a son. There’s consistent language here about resisting evil, and the father doesn’t pull any punches while warning his son. His words are concise, direct, and rather forceful—if people tempt you with claims of an easy, deceitful life of “ill-gotten gains,” do not follow them. Period. It will only bring ruin. Period. The father ends with especially descriptive words about the violence that will come from falling into these ways.

· Verses 20-33: 1st Speech from Lady Wisdom

The next speech is the first from Lady Wisdom, a character in this book who personifies the concept of wisdom. She claims that rejecting her advice will lead to self-destruction and you’ll only have yourself to blame. If you don’t listen to wisdom, you’re going to crash and burn. Hard. She’s pretty much going to bust out with “I told you so.”

As a whole, Chapter 1 bluntly cuts to the point—our choices are a serious matter, but wisdom is accessible to us. The stakes are high, but we have instruction to guide us. Guard yourself, pay attention, and consider carefully how you will respond. Are you going to be open-minded and learn new ways of living well in God’s world? Of course, the answer should be YES!

¹ I, Solomon, David’s son and Israel’s king, pass on to you these proverbs—a treasury of wisdom—

² So that you would recognize wisdom and value discipline; that you would understand insightful teaching

³ And receive wise guidance to live a disciplined life; that you would seek justice and have the ability to choose what is right and fair.

⁴ These proverbs teach the naive how to become clever; they instruct the young in how to grow in knowledge and live with discretion.

⁵ The wise will pay attention to these words and will grow in learning, and the discerning will receive divine guidance,

⁶ And they will be able to interpret the meaning of a proverb and a puzzle, the twists and turns in the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ Let us begin. The worship of the Eternal One, the one True God, is the first step toward knowledge. Fools, however, do not fear God and cannot stand wisdom or guidance.

⁸ So, my son, pay attention to your father’s guidance, and do not ignore what your mother taught you—

⁹ Wear their wisdom as a badge of honor and maturity, as fine jewelry around your neck.

¹⁰ My son, should your less honorable peers pressure you to do what is wrong,

you should be strong enough not to go along.

¹¹ If they should say, Come on! Everyone, hide and let’s wait to see whom we can beat to a pulp. We’re going to jump some unsuspecting chumps for no reason at all.

¹² We’ll have our way with them, and when we’re through, there will be nothing left, as if their bodies were swallowed whole by the grave’s dark pit.

¹³ We’ll take whatever we want—all their wealth and their fancy clothes—

and when we’re through, we’ll have piles of their treasure for our own.

¹⁴ You have to join us; forget about God. We’re going to rake in the goods, and we’ll share all we take!

¹⁵ My son, do not join them; keep well away from their violent, destructive paths.

¹⁶ For they run right away, every time, to do wrong, and they are thirsty for blood.

¹⁷ You see, it makes no sense to bait the net and set the trap while the bird is watching,

¹⁸ But these hiding in the shadows and waiting to spill innocent blood are really just hastening their own destruction!

By giving into their sinful desires, they set themselves up to be ambushed.

¹⁹ This is what happens to everyone who tries to profit by violence;

violence will eventually rob them of their very lives.

²⁰ There’s another voice in town. It belongs to Lady Wisdom, who calls out in the street. She cries out in the town square,

²¹ At the city gates, in the noisy city streets, you can hear her speaking over the racket.

²² Lady Wisdom says: You simple, naive people, how long will you love your feeble ways? You simpletons, how long will you enjoy making fun of what you don’t understand?  You fools, how long will you hate learning what truly matters?

²³ Turn to me and receive my gentle correction; Watch and I will pour out my spirit on you; I will share with you my wise words in order to redirect your lives.

²⁴ You hear, but you have refused to answer my call. My hands reached out, but no one noticed.

²⁵ All my advice, all my correction, all have been neglected— you wanted nothing of them.

²⁶ So I will be the laughter you hear when misfortune comes, and it will come.

I will be the mocking sound when panic grips you—

²⁷ When panic comes like a stormy blast, when misfortune sweeps in like a whirlwind, when sorrow and anguish weigh you down.

²⁸ This is when they will call on me, but I will not respond; they will be frantic to find me, but they won’t be able.

²⁹ Because they despised knowledge of my ways, and they also refused to respect and honor the Eternal,

³⁰ Because they rejected my advice and turned down my correction,

³¹ They will surely get what’s coming to them: they’ll be forced to eat the fruit of their wicked ways; they’ll gorge themselves on the consequences of their choices.

³² You see, it’s turning away from me that brings death to the simple,

and it’s self-satisfaction that destroys the fools.

³³ But those who listen to me now will live under divine protection;

they can rest knowing they are out of harm’s way.

That will conclude our exploration of Proverbs 1. Next week we will continue with Chapter 2, and each week we will explore a full chapter in Proverbs. I hope that you will join us each week so that you can gain wisdom, insight, and understanding for yourself.

All of the Proverbs provide us with rich wisdom, insight, and understanding on a myriad of life issues. Regardless of where you are in your faith walk, if you apply the precepts in Proverbs, your life will be rich and satisfying. I encourage you to take them and plant the seeds of wisdom in your heart so that you will reap a harvest of wisdom throughout your life.

Tomorrow we will hike another short trail of Wisdom Unplugged where we will discover an inspirational wisdom quote. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe through iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!