GETTING TO KNOW DIVINE WISDOM - PART 3

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.

Proverbs 8:32-36

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

During our study of the 8th Chapter of Proverbs, we have spent time getting to know divine wisdom as it is personified and speaks to us from the scriptures. As we have gotten acquainted, we learned a lot about the qualities of divine wisdom (part 1) and discovered that it was created before anything else (part 2). Our main take-away was that when we seek to have a relationship with divine wisdom, we will always find the Lord at the same place. It’s little wonder why God’s word speaks so much about the immeasurable measure of it.

Today, as we conclude this three part devotion on getting to know divine wisdom, we’ll focus on what we gain through establishing a relationship with it. In other words, we’ll answer the classis question, “what’s in it for me?”

Think about the relationships we find ourselves in. Most of the time, we are in these relationships because we find ourselves fulfilled in some way through them for we all have general needs that we seek to meet through others whether that’s companionship, guidance, support, laughter, conversation, or just simply love.

So what do we gain from our relationship with divine wisdom?

The concluding verses from Proverbs 8 provide the following answers:

1. Blessedness

Blessed are those who keep my ways.

Blessed are those who listen to me.

What does it mean to be blessed?

If you asked others, I bet you a majority of them would begin to use people or things to define it. People tend to get the word blessed mixed up with the word blessing. But look at the dictionary and you’ll find the following meaning to what it is to be blessed:

bless·ed – adjective - \ˈble-səd\ - of or enjoying happiness; bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune.

Simply put, when we are blessed we are happy and I don’t think I have ever met someone who didn’t long for happiness in life. Divine wisdom will always deliver us to the place where we will feel blessed and fulfilled. Jesus reminds us of this truth through what is my favorite of all His Beatitudes:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

When we hunger and thirst for a relationship grounded in righteousness, whether through God’s word or prayer, we will find divine wisdom imparted on us by the Lord, always perfectly measured to leave us filled, satisfied, and happy. Nothing else in life can fulfill us this way.

2. Life

For those who find me find life

As we are filled by divine wisdom and left happy, we begin to experience life as the Lord intended it to be for His children, a life that is full of light and love, not just now but forever. For a relationship with divine wisdom will always point us to Jesus, the author of our salvation, the Way and the Truth and the Life, and the only way to God the Father (John 14:6).

Find divine wisdom and you will find Jesus.

Find Jesus and you will find eternal life through Him.

Find eternal life and you will feel eternally blessed.

It’s as simple an equation as that.

3. The Lord’s favor

For those who find me receive favor from the Lord.

Want to live in the Lord’s favor?

Then you need to walk the path He lays down for you, the narrow path of righteousness that leads us to life and away from destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). To walk this path, you need someone to guide you and divine wisdom is ready to be that guide. Seek the Lord and His direction, hold Him by the hand and let Him lead you, and you will be in fellowship with the divine wisdom that abides with Him, a divine wisdom that will serves as your spiritual GPS when it comes to navigating through this worldly life you’re in, a divine wisdom who brings us so much, including the favor of the Lord.

Friends, my prayer is that you have learned a lot about the benefits of divine wisdom that you will never cease to pursue it in life. But just in case you’re still on the fence, consider what comes to those who opt to follow their own understanding or seek the imperfect help of others:

Those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding. We learned this in the first chapter of this book. Those who disrespect the Lord and shun the divine wisdom that dwells with Him will do so to their own demise. Happiness will not be their mantra nor will they ever be in the Lord’s favor. And they will not find life because by their actions, they will have shown that they hate divine wisdom and love death more.

I pray this doesn’t define who you are. If it does, won’t you make a wise decision and turn your heart, mind, and soul to the Lord today, beginning a blessed, life-providing, favor-producing union with the divine wisdom He provides?

He stands ready to receive you.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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