Proverbs 8:35-36
For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the LORD,
but he who fails to find me injures himself;
all who hate me love death.”
“I need your help, it’s a matter of life and death.” If your spouse, sibling or child texted this to you, wouldn’t you call immediately? Would anything else be more important at that moment? You might say yes if the person you’re thinking about wouldn’t be exaggerating, or you might have someone in mind that you know is “a little bit dramatic.”
The Bible doesn’t present wisdom as some in the world understand it. It is not an option to go through life without it- its lack means death and reveals the desires and end of those who refuse to learn it. Unfortunately many who read these words and others in the book of Proverbs brush it off as being “a little bit dramatic.”
Wisdom in the biblical context is a spiritual necessity- a twin for righteousness as foolishness is a twin for sin. So finding wisdom is finding favor from God- getting our priorities straight. “I need to run to God for grace” is a wise saying, “I think I can handle life as I have been” a foolish one. The fool “injures himself,” just as we know sin is a self-destructive behavior and position before God. Even as we have run to God for favor in Christ, we are still day by day in danger of making foolish/sinful decisions and “injuring” ourselves by it. If we are in Christ, we know
sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace
Romans 6:14
And so we must be on guard against the temptation to sin, and recognize it as contrary to wisdom, life, and the favor of God. It is an urgent matter that we be aware of sin’s deceitfulness and the danger of foolish choices. Look to Christ, who is for us
wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption
1 Corinthians 1:30
