Live Securely!

​Meditation
Proverbs 1:32,33—For the turning away of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.  But whoever listens to me will live securely and be free from the fear of danger.

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Solomon makes a strong case for the supreme importance of wisdom in the book of Proverbs.  In verse 33 the word “me” is not referring to himself it is wisdom speaking.  The cost of ignoring wisdom is enormous—death; the penalty for smugness is destruction.  Smugness or complacency is that cavalier spirit that disregards truth because convenience is more attractive than conviction.  
            
1 Kings 4:29,31 says, “God gave Solomon wisdom, very great insight, and understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore . . . He was wiser than anyone.” When Solomon wrote about wisdom his insights came from God therefore, in this case, to listen to wisdom is to listen to God.    

The benefit of embracing and applying wisdom is security.  To live securely does not mean that nothing bad will happen to us.  It does not guarantee health, wealth, or the absence of trouble.  So long as we live in a sinful world there is no such thing as a haven from havoc.  Rather, to live securely is the union of heart and mind that so long as wisdom is followed one is not bound by fear.  
            
Alexa* is a walking light bulb.  She radiates joy, energy, and passion for Jesus.   Yet in listening to her testimony she reveals that she was raped as a young woman, grew up in a broken home, and is in a difficult marriage with a disabled, abusive husband.  One wonders how she could live securely yet that is consistently what she does.  Her joy is in the Lord.  She sets aside the past—refusing to let it dictate her present.  She is not fearful of what life may throw at her—she trusts the promises of God.  She treads in the confidence that so long as she walks wisely by following His Word she will be victorious. If she suffers it is only temporary.  She refuses to let circumstances or people make her insecure. Her life depicts what it means to listen to wisdom.  She is by no means perfect and at times she struggles but, overall, she is a great example of Pro. 1:33.

We, like Alexa, can live securely.  Listen to wisdom.  Embrace her message.  Enjoy the peace that comes from understanding.  Something to think about . . . in reveration!
 
Inspiration
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.—Galileo Galilei 
 
*Not her real name.
 
©2019 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)