Wisdom Warns 

Proverbs 1; I die daily devotional.

 ²³  “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.

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Wisdom teaches us the meaning of love, but to love ourselves or our family members more than Christ our Lord … are we then worthy of that love? ^{Matthew 10:37} “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. To love in the meaning of our eternal Father, we must be reproved.

WISDOM REPROVES

Wisdom goes on to teach us that – ³⁹ He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it – because the spirit of Wisdom is poured out on us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. To love as our eternal Father loves, means to die, but there is a promise. So when we die to ourselves by the experience of our faith as we live for the Word of God, we effectively communicate the gospel of salvation from sin. And the enemy of our faith hates this good word of God, this love of God, that saves us into a life eternal through Christ. Times will get heavy, trials will come, and pain will be experienced, but the spirit of God is pouring out on us to handle every moment of that process. God is with us in the reproof, lets stay the course, and trust the Lord.

• Are you having a Merry Christmas?
• Do you need reproof?
• Do I need reproof?
• Do we need reproof?
• Can we trust our eternal Father at His Word?
• What is the meaning of Love?

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RECOURSE

Proverbs 1 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org
¹ The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: ² To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, ³ To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; ⁴ To give prudence to the naïve, To the youth knowledge and discretion, ⁵ A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, ⁶ To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.  ⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction And do not forsake your mother’s teaching; ⁹ Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck. ¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. ¹¹ If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause; ¹² Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit; ¹³ We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil; ¹⁴ Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,” ¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, ¹⁶ For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood. ¹⁷ Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird; ¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives. ¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence; It takes away the life of its possessors. Wisdom Warns ²⁰ Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; ²¹ At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: ²² “How long, O naïve ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? ²³  “Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. ²⁴ “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; ²⁵ And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; ²⁶ I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, ²⁷ When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. ²⁸ “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. ³⁰ “They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. ³¹ “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. ³² “For the waywardness of the naïve will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. ³³ “But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

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COMMENTARY

Matthew Henry (P1-V23) Commentary
2. He invites them to repent and become wise, v. 23. And here,

• (1.) The precept is plain: Turn you at my reproof. We do not make a right use of the reproofs that are given us for that which is evil if we do not turn from it to that which is good; for for this end the reproof was given. Turn, that is, return to your right mind, turn to God, turn to your duty, turn and live.
• (2.) The promises are very encouraging. Those that love simplicity find themselves under a moral impotency to change their own mind and way; they cannot turn by any power of their own. To this God answers, “Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you; set yourselves to do what you can, and the grace of God shall set in with you, and work in you both to will and to do that good which, without that grace, you could not do.’ Help thyself, and God will help thee; stretch forth thy withered hand, and Christ will strengthen and heal it.
  • [1.] The author of this grace is the Spirit, and that is promised: I will pour out my Spirit unto you, as oil, as water; you shall have the Spirit in abundance, rivers of living water, Jn. 7:38. Our heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him.
  • [2.] The means of this grace is the word, which, if we take it aright, will turn us; it is therefore promised, “I will make known my words unto you, not only speak them to you, but make them known, give you to understand them.’ Note, Special grace is necessary to a sincere conversion. But that grace shall never be denied to any that honestly seek it and submit to it.