Don't Touch the Hot Stove

"For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 
guarding the paths of justice 
and watching over the way of his saints." -Proverbs 2:6-8 

The book of Proverbs is all about wisdom and chapter two, fittingly in the beginning of the book, is about the "Value of Wisdom." It's such a dense chapter and I would be remiss to suggest that this post is a summery of it, so read it! Having said this, there is a theme.

#1.) Wisdom comes from God and he willingly provides it to us. Maybe we don't appreciate that as much as we should because we don't understand the purpose of wisdom sometimes. Maybe we think wisdom is just something that old people get over time and it means they can skillfully dial up those old cliches on the spot just when you don't want to hear them. You know, there's always someone "wise" around right when you're about to buy that sweet, new gadget, wagging their wrinkly finger and saying, "a penny saved is a penny earned." Or when something really lame has happened in your life....there they are again, suggesting you "look at both side of the coin." No....Godly, biblical wisdom is far more than the ability to make youngsters roll their eyes at trite verbiage delivered with a plastic smile and prideful tone.
#2.) Wisdom is for our protection. If you go through Proverbs 2 and circle all of the verbs that describe the acitions of the LORD in response to our willingness to accept wisdom, it's quite telling. He is "guarding," "watching," and "delivering."


It's only appropriate I end this post with a cliched analogy. Just like when mom or dad told you back when you were a little tot not to touch the stove because they wanted to protect you, our heavenly Father loves us so much as to offer wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of Him and his commandments....not because he wants us to grow prideful in our ourselves or because he wants us to live boring, risk-less lives, but so that we may be guarded from evil as we carry his name.