December 9

Dec 9 – Today from Proverbs 9 we reflect on wisdom

Here we observe the use of the literary technique of personification while looking at the concepts of wisdom and folly. Both call out the same invitation to the same audience; in verse 4 it's wisdom, and in verse 16 it's folly; "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgement.
But as you read on, you begin to see that their motives differ. Wisdom desires to instruct. Verse 9; "Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning." It is the teachable person who benefits from wisdom. Learning and discipleship call for patience, perseverance, submission, and is a lifelong process.
Folly on the other hand is the way of life's short-cuts. Verse 17; "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!" Why spend all the time in learning to dig and form a well when you can just steal the water? "Those poor 'disciples' of wisdom waste all that time learning how to read the topography to try to discern where the best place to dig is," says folly. "Then they spend all that effort digging and shoring up the hole with stone, and if they get lucky, they may end up with water. Even then, they are never sure if it will be sweet water. Why not just wait and see who hits a sweet well, and then when nobody's looking, just dip in! There is more water than they will ever need for themselves anyway."
People like that never learn about life. They only learn the ways of folly. Some day when it is critical that they know how to read the topography, they won't have a clue - and there won't be any nearby water they can steal.
We all start out simple and lack judgment in some area. And both wisdom and folly call out to us. The choice remains to be our own. Do we submit to a wise teacher and patiently learn the processes and lessons? Or do we get clever and look for the short-cuts in life? "Get the maximum out of life with the minimum effort," says folly. It sounds good until the day of 'suddenly' comes - when the resources we drew from and leaned upon in order to avoid developing our own resourcefulness are gone. That's when one discovers that those who chose to be the guests of folly "are in the depths of the grave" (verse 18).
You will see this theme continually, throughout the book of Proverbs. That which seems to be the easiest and most trouble-free way ends up being the way of death. One needs wisdom to discern these things, and "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. . ." (verse 10).