Proverbs 9 "Wisdom and Folly"

Ever wonder where wisdom comes from? How to get it?

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" Proverbs 9:10

This verse says the fear of the Lord is where it begins.

OK. Not fear of the Lord as in being scared of Him, but rather as we read in Proverbs 8:13;

"To fear the Lord is to hate evil."

How simply put! It doesn't get more understandable than that.

To hate evil is to "hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." Proverbs 8:13

To hate those qualities is where wisdom starts.

Let's take a look at the opposite of wisdom: foolishness. In today's reading we were introduced to the woman Folly. "The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge." Proverbs 9:13 The complete opposite of yesterdays prude, which we also read more of today in verses 1-6. Woman Folly is loud, obnoxious, has no moral direction and not smart.

Remember how we read in Proverbs 1, that throughout Proverbs the word 'simple' generally denotes one without moral direction? Well, this woman Folly actually invites immoral company into her house, saying "Let all who are simple come in here!" Poverbs 9:16 Very bluntly, she is an immoral, dumb woman who loves the ways of death and destruction.

When we fear the Lord and hate evil, we have the promise that our "days will be many, and years will be added to [our] life." Proverbs 9:11 What a great promise!

Let's close with the next verse (v.12),

"If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
  if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."

Lord, thank you for Your great promises. Thank you for Your wisdom. Father teach us of Your wisdom. Give us a desire to hate all evil, but first the evil in ourselves lest we think more of ourselves than we should. Lord, let us not invite immorality into our homes like the woman Folly does, but rather fill our hearts and our homes with Your goodness, Your love, Your presence so that all who know us, all who hear us speak and all who come through our homes may know that we love You. Amen.

Proverbs 8 "Be A Prude"

While Proverbs was written to gain wisdom as we learned in Proverbs 1, today we read

      "I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion." Pr.8:18

So often 'prudence', root word being 'prude', is used in a negative light. We've all heard, "Don't be a prude." Over the years, words such as 'prude' and 'prudence' have lost their popularity and value. Let's find a better understanding of the word.

Prudence is having the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. Synonyms of prudence are good judgement, self control, common sense, forethought, etc. All of which are desirable qualities in all of the human race.

The root word is 'prude'. A prude is a person who is concerned with decorum or propriety. While today being called a prude is not a compliment, it wasn't so in the 1600-1700s. Traditionally, it was associated with wisdom, integrity, usefulness & profit.

So what happened that these words have lost their popularity, and their understanding has become demeaning? I believe, plain and simply, the decline of moral values.

In all honesty, I believe God loves prudes. Not only does He love them, He's calling us to be one. God condones morality, modesty, self control, good judgment, wisdom, all good qualities. In fact He is all good qualities, so might I suggest, our God is prude. He invites us to be imitators of Him as dearly beloved children saying,

"among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking...For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person...has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Galations5:1-5

Doesn't this sound like God encourages a life of prudence?

Now, let's get this straight! Being a prude does not mean God expects us to be a tight-lipped, rigid person. It just means you are concerned with decorum and therefore practice selfcontrol.

Being prude means you are a wise, well-disciplined, teachable, thoughtful, morality practicing person on a mission to claim his/her inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God! What a privilege this should be to us! What a joy! That joy will not cause us to be unhappy, unsmiling and cold, but rather warm, smiling, inviting, gentle and loving to all those around us.


Let's be a bit more of a prude today! It's OK! It's downright beautiful to our Lord!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take a virtual coffee break for your homemaker's heart! Visit the top right side bar and join today!

Sharing with. ...Soul Survivor