God Speaks
My child, listen to what I say,
and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord,
and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8 He guards the paths of the just
and protects those who are faithful to him.
9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
and you will find the right way to go.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Wise choices will watch over you.
Understanding will keep you safe.
12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,
from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way
to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong,
and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked,
and their ways are wrong.
16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
17 She has abandoned her husband
and ignores the covenant she made before God.
18 Entering her house leads to death;
it is the road to the grave.
19 The man who visits her is doomed.
He will never reach the paths of life.
20 So follow the steps of the good,
and stay on the paths of the righteous.
21 For only the godly will live in the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be removed from the land,
and the treacherous will be uprooted.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding each Proverbs 2:
1. What do these verses tell me about God?
2. What do these verses tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
1. God is wise. He wants people to live wisely. If they ask Him, God will give people wisdom.
2. Some people (fools) use twisted words, insist on turning from the right way, prefer dark paths, and take pleasure in doing wrong.
Prayer:
3. How might I pray regarding Proverbs 2?
Thank You, LORD God, for being a good father who instructs His children in the right way to live and warns them about evildoers. Help me to search for wisdom as if it were hidden treasure. Show me what it means to fear You, LORD. Please shield me so that I can walk in integrity. I need to know and do what is just, right, and fair. Your instruction and watch-care will fill me with joy. I know that the wisdom You give will keep me safe from evil people with their twisted words and ways. Keep me from immoral women and seductive men. Following their ways leads to death; help me to follow the example of good men and women instead. They are steady and strong, but the treacherous ones will be overthrown. I want to live a life that brings You glory. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Proverbs 2?
- I will sit down with a child I know to have a serious talk about good and evil behavior.
- I will study the Bible so that I can show such a child what it says about the issues of our day.
- I will read at least one biography of someone who was wise and did good for others, for example Mother Teresa in India.
- I will read the story of King Solomon who asked God for wisdom and received it. See 1 Kings 3:3-28.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.