Author: Megan Langan

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 15:15-17 (day four)

We might read this and think, “Easy for you to say, Solomon.” He is one of the wealthiest figures in the Bible. But we can’t dismiss his advice here for several reasons. God gifted Solomon with supernatural wisdom. Yes, he also had incredible material blessings, but his life’s focus was on obtaining godly wisdom. This wisdom led him to the conclusion that wealth is meaningless when compared to a life lived in the presence of Yahweh.

This wisdom is echoed throughout Scripture. Paul offers a similar sentiment in Philippians 3:7-8, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…”

Solomon knew the love of God, which led him to have a proper view of worldly things. How much more do we, living on the other side of Christ’s earthly life, death, and resurrection, know the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit? May our lives be shaped by the surpassing value of knowing Christ.

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 14:34 (day four)

Our worldview in the West is so heavily individualistic that we often view salvation and repentance through that lens too. Yes, salvation and repentance are for individuals, but they are also for communities and nations. So much of what the Old Testament prophets address is about collective repentance and national righteousness. Daniel repents on behalf of the entire nation. Isaiah calls for the collective people of Israel to turn from their wicked ways. It seems almost impossible today in our modern, Western worldview that an entire nation could repent and turn to God. Yet, it comes up over and over again in Scripture.

So how do we move towards corporate repentance and righteousness? It’s more than standing on our religious high horse repeating, “America just needs to get back to God.” Yes, of course she does. But tropes won’t help us achieve that. It’s more than just politics and policies, though those are important.

I wonder if it starts with considering Jesus’ vision for us in John 17:22-23, “The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.”

The more we pursue and experience the glory and unity of life in the Spirit that Jesus describes in our homes, small groups, congregations, neighborhoods, etc., the more national righteousness seems possible.

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 13:24 (day four)

I am not a parent, but I am the child of parents who disciplined me. There were times (many times, actually) when I received discipline because it was needed. I hadn’t done the right thing and needed to be corrected. I wasn’t behaving in a way that honored God or respected others. Often, when I was being honest with myself, I knew I had done the wrong thing. While I would have never admitted it to them, I knew my parents were right to discipline me. In these moments, I experienced discipline out of love.

There were other, fewer, times that I experienced discipline out of a different motivation. Sometimes my parents were upset with each other, and by proxy this led them to be upset and harsh with me. Sometimes my parents had difficulty processing their own emotions and childhood traumas, which made them deal poorly with mine. A child can receive unhelpful discipline in the wake of a parent’s bad day. Children are perceptive, though. While I didn’t have words at the time to express it, I knew these moments of discipline were out of a poorer motivation.

Godly discipline requires us to examine our motivation. Are we modeling our discipline after the Lord’s so that our children may, “share in his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10)? When we engage in discipline with them, is it in an effort to make them look more like Christ? I know that when I become a parent, I will fail in this way many times. There will be moments when my flesh takes over and the discipline becomes more about me than about God. Here is a regular opportunity to say, “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30).

 

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 9:1-18 (day four)

I love that the invitation to wisdom is open to all. There’s not a screening to prove your aptitude. Wisdom calls openly, allowing all who are confused, naive, or struggling to freely enter. This reminds me of the words of Jesus saying to the crowd, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Wisdom, the very Spirit of God, calls openly for all to enter, all to gain insight, all to find rest. No application necessary.

However, this same proverb does show us one of the ways we know if we’re growing in wisdom. It shows us where the rubber meets the road, if you will. It tells us that those who are wise will receive correction gladly. A wise person will love the one who rebukes them, because it allows them to grow in wisdom all the more.

How well do you take rebuke? How do you handle it when you receive correction? I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not great at it – I become defensive and put my hands over my ears. This is the first sign that I still have much growing to do when it comes to wisdom. The wise are teachable, and teachability requires humility. Are you willing to walk humbly with God and others? It’s the first step to growing in wisdom.

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 3:9-10 (day four)

In the Kingdom of God, there is abundance. Jesus says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). This refers to our eternal life in the presence of God, but also to our life here and now. Regardless of what’s in our checking account, this is the reality that children of God live in. And we are called to honor God with this abundant life he has given us in every capacity – our time, our skills and talents, our relationships, and as Solomon reminds us here, our finances.

This abundance calls us to live with open hands. When the world would tell us to hold all we have tight to the chest, Kingdom wisdom tells us to offer it up freely. When the world would have us put our faith in our wealth, Kingdom wisdom returns our gaze to the one who bestowed it. Solomon speaks to this in Ecclesiastes 5:10, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”

The more we live by Kingdom wisdom, the more our focus shifts from the number in our bank account to the God who fulfills his promise of abundant life. The more we honor God with what he’s given us, the more aware we become of the abundance around us. 

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 3:5-7 (day four)

We often ask the Lord for wisdom in life’s big moments – before a big decision, during a crisis, or before a difficult conversation. But Proverbs tells us that God’s wisdom is just as much for the small, daily, common moments. After all, these are the moments that add up to the significant times in life.

When Solomon says, “In all your ways acknowledge him,” he’s asking us to look for God’s presence, listen for God’s voice, and seek out God’s wisdom in everything we do and everywhere we go. He foreshadows what we see later in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.” When we pray without ceasing, we invite the Lord into our everyday, ordinary moments, acknowledging that even in these moments, his ways are higher than ours, and he has wisdom to offer us. He is the fountain of wisdom that we’re invited to drink from all day long.

God is inviting you to be in constant conversation with him – it’s that conversation that will make your paths straight.

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 3:1-4 (day four)

How much time and effort do we put into crafting our reputation? Probably more than any of us would like to admit. We all want to be viewed in a certain way by others; we want to be admired, to be considered smart or strong or talented. Scripture speaks about how to build a reputation, but it looks far different from how we normally go about it.

When we grow in intimacy with God, when we know his character and his words and “write them on the tablet of our hearts,” we gain wisdom. We gain the ability to walk in kindness and truth. As Solomon says, this will allow us to be in good repute with men, and more importantly with God. The more we spin our wheels trying to craft a good reputation on our own, the more self-absorbed we’ll become. It’s no wonder that we gain a better reputation the less we think about ourselves and the more we think about God. By the power of his Spirit, he’ll make us more like him, giving us the wisdom to walk in kindness truth.

2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 2:1-15 (day four)

“He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones.”

The more we pursue wisdom, the more God’s world opens up to us. What was formerly black and white becomes full of color. As we push closer and closer into God’s ways and live in his wisdom, we see more of God’s power and provision. Highlighted here in chapter two is God’s protection.

Solomon says God is a shield to those who pursue wisdom, he guards their paths as they pursue justice, he preserves their way. Of course, this doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to Christ followers, but it does mean that as we encounter adversity, God will continue to give us the supernatural wisdom it takes to handle it in a way that honors him. He protects us from the schemes of the enemy.

Just a few weeks ago we read in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” When we walk in wisdom and grow in godly discernment, we find ourselves protected from wolves in sheep’s clothing. We don’t fall victim to the enemy’s schemes because we have seen for ourselves that God’s way is higher. Wisdom helps us live in the light of God’s protection.

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 1:1-7 (day four)

One of the most challenging aspects of Christianity is that at times, it goes against logic – our earthly logic, at least. Christianity asks us to believe in a miraculous God who behaves in miraculous ways that will always be somewhat mysterious to us. There will always be aspects of God that we can’t wrap our heads around.

But that’s also what makes Christianity beautiful – the more we walk with God the more we see that his mysterious, logic-defying ways are better than our ways. His wisdom is better than our most sound arguments. As we learn to live well in God’s world, we have to walk with humility knowing that God’s ways are higher. Proverbs helps us do that. Proverbs helps us take the inward change we experience after finding Christ and express that change on the outside. Proverbs helps us unlearn the “wisdom” of the world (which is no wisdom at all) and replace it with God’s amazing, illogical wisdom.

It even tells us where to begin – if we want to have godly wisdom, we have to fear the Lord. We have to recognize that he is limitless and we are finite. We have to surrender to his Lordship. Only then can we start the journey towards wisdom.