Proverbs 1: Wisdom Is Calling For You, Listen To Her.

Proverbs 1 states its purpose right at the beginning of the book. I love that. The purpose of the book of Proverbs is to instruct the younger generation on right thinking and good choices.

It gives a detailed description of the type of people you should avoid and shows the good/bad consequences of those choices.

I love Proverbs 1 and read it many times while I was in High School. Many of my friends wanted to go out and do things that were against the law, and cause trouble. But I remember reading this chapter and deciding not to go with them.

Proverbs 1, saved me from doing some stupid things growing up.

The wise words of King Solomon are still changing and saving lives thousands of years after they were written. It’s a beautiful thing.

What is the Purpose of Proverbs 1?

1 These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.

² Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
    to help them understand the insights of the wise.
³ Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
    to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
⁴ These proverbs will give insight into the simple,
    knowledge and discernment to the young.

⁵ Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.
    Let those with understanding receive guidance
⁶ by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables,
    the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:1-7

The purpose of Proverbs 1 is to teach wisdom, and discipline, and help understand the insights of the wise. This way people can live disciplined and successful lives.

When people have a proper moral code, they help their neighbors, communities, and governments. These people make positive changes for the better of the people around them.

If they go into political service they make the government better, and they help their neighbors with projects. All in all, people with a good moral code, who wish to do good, and love their neighbor to better society.

The other class of people in society is described above, a good description of them would be selfish because they are self-focused.

They are usually narcissistic, and can’t fathom another person’s pain. Usually, this is because of their self-focus and they can’t see beyond that.

Anytime I run into someone like this I get really sad for them. What a lonely life to live focused on yourself. We are meant to live in a community of people that has love and acceptance. When you live in a community of one it gets lonely.

Proverbs 1: A Father’s Exhortation: Acquire Wisdom

⁸ My child, listen when your father corrects you.
    Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
⁹ What you learn from them will crown you with grace
    and be a chain of honor around your neck.

¹⁰ My child, if sinners entice you,
    turn your back on them!
¹¹ They may say, “Come and join us.
    Let’s hide and kill someone!
    Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!
¹² Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave;
    let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death.
¹³ Think of the great things we’ll get!
    We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take.
¹⁴ Come, throw in your lot with us;
    we’ll all share the loot.”

¹⁵ My child, don’t go along with them!
    Stay far away from their paths.
¹⁶ They rush to commit evil deeds.
    They hurry to commit murder.
¹⁷ If a bird sees a trap being set,
    it knows to stay away.
¹⁸ But these people set an ambush for themselves;
    they are trying to get themselves killed.
¹⁹ Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
    it robs them of life.

Proverbs 1:8-19

The next group of verses in Proverbs 1 is what affected me the most in High School. People who get excited about damaging property, killing people, or even harming them are immature. They don’t understand that society and living aren’t about the thrill of the moment.

Usually, something is broken inside that they’re trying to fill, and that’s especially the case the younger they are. many times these people will grow up into the narcissists that I spoke of earlier.

I was almost one of these people, and to this day I have safety valves in my life that help me refocus.

1. When I feel myself getting greedy, I start giving stuff away.
2. I try to help out ministries that help people when I’m self-focused.
3. When I get road rage I ask God what is bugging me, and he always answers.

The trick to life is figuring out what is stopping you, and how you can get past it. Nobody gets a free ride, and everyone has their demons they have to fight. That includes the rich people most of us want to be like.

They may have money, but different problems, come with that, and some of those issues I wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole.

Proverbs 1: Wisdom Shouts in the Streets

²⁰ Wisdom shouts in the streets.
    She cries out in the public square.
²¹ She calls to the crowds along the main street,
    to those gathered in front of the city gate:
²² “How long, you simpletons,
    will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
    How long will you fools hate knowledge?
²³ Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
    and make you wise.

²⁴ “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
    I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
²⁵ You ignored my advice
    and rejected the correction I offered.
²⁶ So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
    I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
²⁷ when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
    and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

²⁸ “When they cry for help, I will not answer.
    Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
²⁹ For they hated knowledge
    and chose not to fear the Lord.
³⁰ They rejected my advice
    and paid no attention when I corrected them.
³¹ Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
    choking on their own schemes.
³² For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
    Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
³³ But all who listen to me will live in peace,
    untroubled by fear of harm.”

Proverbs 1:20-33

Proverbs 1: Wisdom In The Streets

I love the analogy of wisdom in Proverbs 1 as a woman crying out in the streets. Sometimes I feel that I can hear her yelling for me, and for some reason I still ignore her.

Oftentimes we are fools because we chose to be. It isn’t a lack of brains, knowledge, or education. We become fools because we hide from the truth.

The truth scares us, but what is truth?

Pontius Pilate asked the question to Jesus during his trial, but he never gave him the chance to answer it. Part of me thinks he was asking the question ironically or sarcastically.

In the Roman world, they might have been experiencing issues like ours where the truth was relative.

The truth is NEVER relative, the truth is that Jesus Christ died and rose again 3 days later. He came to earth so you could be free from sin and live with him for eternity.

God isn’t sending anyone to hell, we are headed there without Jesus. We chose to sin, and a world devoid of God is hell.

Wisdom is crying in the streets asking us to rethink our beliefs, In Proverbs 1 I see her yelling in the middle of the night, but few people answer her call.

Will you?