Walk in wisdom

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WALK IN WISDOM

Prov 28:26

26 He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

NIV

This is a repeated theme throughout the whole of scripture. Certainly the truth is not only unseen by, who God calls, the fool, but he ridicules those who trust in the Lord. There is a great deception upon the earth which lures people into trusting in themselves. There may be a mindset that at the core of the issue is about salvation. The self-reliant still may believe in a heaven and hell, but also may well believe just being a good person, by their own definition, will get them to heaven. This self-definition is again a self-trusting attitude which God says is foolish. But this trusting in the flesh is not simply related to salvation, but to the everyday life in the here and now. We cannot even keep ourselves from sinning, how foolish to put any trust in ourselves. This self-trust in fact brings a curse.

Jer 17:5-6

5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

NIV 

There is such a lack of love, joy, peace or contentment in the parched places of the desert. There is also a lack of truth, their lives are a wasteland where truth does not grow. But for those who walk in wisdom, which is defined by God as walking in wisdom, there are blessings. It is foolish to trust self, but it is wise to trust God. This certainly applies to salvation, but it also applies to every aspect of life in the here and now.

Jer 17:7-8

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

NIV

How much more could we ever want then to receive this kind of promise from God for simply putting our trust in him? Having faith that he will not only save us and give us eternal life, but that in our everyday walk he will keep our leaves green, and we will remain without fear when the heat, or any trouble comes our way. We will not worry because of a season of drought. That is when times might look a little lean in the material sense. As long as we have our roots planted in the stream, which certainly implies Jesus, the stream of living water, we will always prosper both spiritually and physically, never failing to bear fruit. This is truly walking in wisdom, regardless of what the world, or the fool, might say. Trusting in God is pure wisdom, the purest form of wisdom. The fool would say that education brings wisdom, but it only brings knowledge. That was the very first deception by the serpent. He deceived Eve to think by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would be like God. No wisdom was used, but only self-trust in knowledge. All wisdom comes from God, if any of us lacks any wisdom at all we merely only have to ask God for it.

James 1:4-5

 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

NIV

So then, let us not be subject to any of the deception the devil has to offer, such as, God helps those who help themselves, but let us simply tell God we trust him. That would be walking in wisdom.