Day 43 - 90 Days in Proverbs – The Other Siren Call
Proverbs 8:1-12 [NKJV] 1 Does not wisdom cry out, And understanding lift up her voice? 2 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, Beside the way, where the paths meet. 3 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors: 4 "To you, O men, I call, And my voice [is] to the sons of men. 5 O you simple ones, understand prudence, And you fools, be of an understanding heart. 6 Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, And from the opening of my lips [will come] right things; 7 For my mouth will speak truth; Wickedness [is] an abomination to my lips. 8 All the words of my mouth [are] with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse [is] in them. 9 They [are] all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. 10 Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; 11 For wisdom [is] better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her. 12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge [and] discretion.
Yesterday, we talked about the seductive advertising of sin. Luckily, sin is not the only voice calling out to us. Much like the adulteress of sin is calling out to those “devoid of understanding” as we read in Proverbs 7:6-27, wisdom is calling out to those who are “simple ones.”
Furthermore, wisdom is not just standing in the doorway trying to pull us into her trap like the adulteress. Wisdom is pictured as yelling at the top of her lungs, from the top of a hill and at the city gates – working hard to be heard above the seductive call of sin.
How is it, then, that mankind can so easily tune out cry of wisdom in favor of the seductive call of sin? First of all, unconnected to God, wickedness and sin lives in us. Jeremiah 17:9 [NKJV] The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], And desperately wicked; Who can know it? So, since we naturally are connected to sin, we must deliberately break that bond in order to connect to the call of wisdom and to connect to our Father who sends wisdom out to call to us.
We must work to stay connected to God, because even the best of us can listen to the wrong voice from time-to-time if we let our guard down. The book of Proverbs repeatedly advises us to seek wise counsel. [See Proverbs 1:5; 20:18; 24:6] But, in his own life, Solomon did not head his own advice. Instead, he listened to his pagan wives who drew him away from worshipping God and into to worshipping their idols.
This happened even after Solomon had been blessed with incomparable wisdom from God. [See 1 Kings 11:4] From Solomon’s example we need to learn that the people we hang around with can influence us to listen to the call of sin instead of the call of wisdom.
Sisters, we need to follow Jesus’ example and deliberately expel Satan from our presence. But we also may need to stop associating (or at least limit our association) with people who would influence us to listen to him. Jesus called out Peter for this type of thing in Mark 8:33 [NKJV]. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." I don’t think Peter realized he was being a bad influence. Peter was reacting to Jesus telling them about His coming death.
The ladies of sin and of wisdom are both out there, proactively calling to us. Each one has a clear and consistent messages about the virtues and benefits of listening to “her”. Each on is striving to pull us toward her. Sweet sisters, we must make a deliberate effort to tune out the siren call of sin, expelling her influence from our lives, and, just as deliberately, open are ears to the voice of wisdom.
Prayer — Father God, I know that sin sometimes calls me. It can come in many forms, from my own evil heart, from the pull of this evil world, and even from my closest friends or family if I am not careful. Help me to tune out any voice beside Yours. Help me to deliberately tune into the call of wisdom – true wisdom that comes from knowing Your word and from the connection forged with you by the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Help me also to be an influence of wisdom and obedience with my family and friends. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Your thoughts —
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