Wisdom is Up in My Face

Scripture:
Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors.
Proverbs 8:1-3

Observation: Before Lady Wisdom pronounces her knowledge and teaching, she takes up her position. This is not in an alleyway, or in the shadows. It is not a place of great mystery out of sight. It is not a whispered word from a hiding place. No, Wisdom is out in the open, standing on a hilltop and shouting. She is standing in the place of prominence at the city gates, crying out to everyone. Wisdom is way beyond not secretly and quietly waiting to be found ... she is yelling in your face from the most visible place possible.

And this is the truth about the wisdom of the Lord ... it is right here, yelling in our faces, front and center in our daily life. Respect the Lord! Follow his precepts! Be kind and love others! Do what is morally right! Every day, all the time, these teachings are known to everyone, and you almost have to go out of your way to figure out how to re-interpret your actions in life to ignore this wisdom. You have to invent excuses to treat others mean and violate God's laws.

Application: And ... we do ... I do ... find excuses to ignore wisdom every day. I can be rude to someone who cuts me off in traffic. I can curse when I get frustrated with work. I can ignore God for long stretches at a time. While others in society may do even worse, that doesn't matter. Wisdom is in my face, yelling the truth, and I find a way to brush her aside and do foolish things.

The wisdom of obeying God is obvious. Again, I should define ways to continue to remind me to do it every day, as if listening to wisdom herself wasn't enough.

Prayer: Lord, I do thank you that your wisdom and your word is available to guide our lives. Oh, how I wish I was more obedient so that my days may go better and easier and gentler! Please forgive the errors I make, and the times and ways I ignore your wise council. May I look more and more to your purposes and instructions as the true way to make my life more fruitful and enjoyable. Amen.