Wise Advice

Dec 27, 2015 1644

I, wisdom, have poured out my heart to you. But since you rejected me when I called, and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, and since you ignored my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you like a storm. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but not find me (Prov. 1:23-28).

Wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. For example, knowledge sees a nail lying in hot ashes, but it doesn’t look hot. Wisdom reveals from experience that a nail in hot ashes can be very hot even though it is not glowing. There have been burn marks on my finger and thumb to prove it.

A wise person is one who will also learn from the experiences of others. We know many everyday examples of this: “Do not throw petrol on glowing ashes”; “do not start your car in gear.”

The first chapter of Proverbs teaches the folly of ignoring wisdom. Those who refuse to listen to the voice of wisdom end up being their own executioners.

Just recently two climbers ignored the latest mountain weather forecast, and the advice of several experienced local climbers, and set off on their journey to cross New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Tragically, their frozen bodies were dug out of the ice several days later.

We ignore the everyday counsel of wisdom at the cost of our lives. How much greater the peril when we turn our backs on the counsel of Scripture and the invitation of the Gospel?

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