Jun 8 - Today from Proverbs 8 we look at verse 4
"To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind."
This is a marvelous chapter. Beginning with verse four, the Teacher personifies wisdom in the first person. This is a literary style that enables us to understand the characteristics of an inanimate subject in new and unique ways. There is an added dimension when instead of a teacher of wisdom saying, "Wisdom is available to all mankind," we hear wisdom herself proclaiming, "Listen to my call, O men. My appeal is to all mankind." The first sounds like one more entree on the buffet table of 'What shall I do today?' The other is more like a sales pitch. It catches the student's attention and draws him in. "Okay, why should I stop and invest my time with you?"
"Well, let me tell you . . ." Wisdom says. And from verse five on to the end of the chapter she proceeds to unfold and reveal all of the wonder of her qualifications and her character. By the time the student has carefully investigated her claims and statements, he should be quite convinced that she is worth pursuing.
Yet, it seems that so many continue to ignore her call. They are too busy, or too preoccupied, or too lazy, or too impatient, or too ensnared by their own limited understanding and interests, or just plain too proud to stop and contemplate the order of the vastness of creation or the smallness of their thinking in light of it all. Wisdom says of herself, "If you will stop and seek to find that which I have to offer, I can help you to grow in understanding of the wonder and greatness of creation, and of your purpose and place in it." Now, I ask you, is that worth your effort today?
* The mocker is too proud.
* The fool is too distracted.
* The simple is too easily led
* The sluggard is too lazy
These are the four examples found in Proverbs of those who miss the call of wisdom. In one way or another they have convinced themselves that they can handle life as it comes - and in the process they miss life all together. It's not because wisdom hasn't called. It's just that so many are too . . . something. Let us seek to hear her voice today so that we can avoid having a 'too' day.
She is too valuable to ignore.
Since Nov 08
About Me
- Ken
- While mentor-ing a couple of young men late in the year 2001 , I told them that if they agreed to read a chapter of Proverbs each week-day as a part of their devotions, I would choose one verse from the chapter and share a meditation by email. They agreed. I continued to write the meditations at my desk in my home for the next two and a half years. They began to forward them to their friends and I received requests from those friends to be placed on the email list. My personal email bundle was to about eighty people. Many of those people forwarded them to friends all over the country – and some over the world. Only the Lord knows how extensive the writings traveled. I am not a professional writer, and each meditation was spun off in a relatively short period of time during my own personal devotions in the morning. In April of 2004 I assembled 366 of the meditations into a calendar year. As I now bring up the Proverb of the Day to send on to my friends, I am surprised at how fresh each of them is to my own heart – and often how they speak to me in a completely different way than when I first wrote them. . . . . Ken Sweers
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