Embracing Wisdom: The Path to Life and Redemption

Life is a journey of decisions. If I were to ask you how many decisions do you think you make in a day, what would you say? Well, I'll tell you. According to Harvard Business Review, an average adult makes approximately 33,000 to 35,000 decisions each day, consciously or subconsciously. [00:04:32]

We're constantly making decisions, whether they are simple ones like what should I eat, should I brush my teeth—and I hope the answer to that is yes—to very complex and consequential decisions like where do we take the kids to school or should I accept that job offer or who do I marry. [00:05:00]

Whatever decisions we're making, we're always listening to voices, whether our own voices, our experiences, or other people's opinion, other people's voices, or the internet. And in our passage today, wisdom is showing us that she's one of the voices that's always reaching out and calling to us at our point of decision. [00:05:21]

Wisdom raises her voice and she engages with us in that decision making. See verse two: on the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads, she takes her stand. She's on the heights, she wants everyone to see her. She's also at the crossroads where you want to decide why turn left or right. [00:06:00]

The entrance to the city Gates were in Bible times the places where Elders met to make important decisions, like in Ruth 4:1 when Boaz was about to marry Ruth. The Bible says the elders met at the entrance to the City Gate. So wisdom is constantly calling out to us when we about to make decisions. [00:06:27]

By Nature we lack wisdom. Verse 5 says we're simple and foolish by Nature. You might go, H Sam, that sounds a bit offensive. Well, there's a lot of practical truth in that. Proverbs 14:15 says the simple believe anything and Proverbs 1:7 says fools despise wisdom and instruction. [00:06:58]

Fools despise instruction while the simple are easily misled. Now imagine two drivers driving on the motorway and this happens all the time. One driver sees a no entry sign and they just drive. They see the sign, they think to themselves, well, I always take this road, so they ignore the sign and they just drive ahead. [00:07:23]

Do you see how that is relatable to us? Fools say, I know what I'm doing, and the simple says, uh, everyone else is doing it. We all make decisions that way sometimes, don't we? And that's why wisdom is calling to us. She says to us, come and learn from me, listen to me. [00:08:22]

First, because wisdom is right. In verses 6 to 11, we see that the first thing wisdom offers are her words, her instructions. She says in verse six, here, for I will speak, and then she describes the nature of her words. Verse six, they are noble, they are right. [00:08:44]

If all of scripture is right for you, the way to learn wisdom is not to cherry pick scriptures—uh, I like that bit, but that bit I don't quite like it as much—like kids cherry pick their food: pastries, yay; vegetables, oh no. But don't we often do that with scriptures? [00:10:16]

But what happens if I accept all of scripture as right for me? What happens is I receive the grace for the vegetables, those uncomfortable truths, and consequently I would find treasure in true freedom in Christ. You see, God's word is full of treasures and its treasures are incomparable to Earthly treasures. [00:11:24]

So people often ask, how do I know what's the right option or how do I know God's will for my life? And wisdom's point here is: start by desiring wisdom, because when you do, your life will be aligned to God's right and true words. [00:12:03]

We also need wisdom because wisdom is rewarding. In verses 12-21, wisdom demonstrates that only in her righteous ways are all you need. As Proverbs 9:12 says, if you are wise, your wisdom will reward you, and these rewards are not ill-gotten or deceptive. [00:12:31]

But isn't life full of such bad, dodgy deals, such promises, such rewards—things that make you feel satisfied, bloated, feel good in the moment, but in the long run they are empty, they leave you empty and they rob you of your joy and peace? But it's not so with wisdom's rewards. [00:14:10]

Wisdom always gives you something wholesome, something complete, or as verse 19 puts it, a better fruit than gold. It's not like our cheap student deal that leaves you with a running stomach. It's a reward which is wholesome and comes with righteousness. [00:16:29]

A good way to know if we are walking in wisdom is to ask ourselves, are my fruits, my desires accompanied with righteousness? Are they leading me closer to God or away from God? As Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. [00:17:10]