Just as sin calls for the believer, so too does wisdom. Wisdom has just as big a stake in our lives as sin. It is our duty and responsibility to decide which of the two to follow. As we continue to go through the book of Proverbs, we will see this dichotomy many times more. Both call to the believer, both promise to deliver something to the believer, both are tempting to follow, but only one is true, only one is right.
"Wisdom cries aloud in the streets; she raises her voice in the markets. She cries at the head of the noisy intersections - in the chief gathering places - at the entrance of the city gates she speaks..." Proverbs 1:20-21, Amplified
This is wisdoms endeavor to find us. She seeks us out. Just as sin surrounds us, so too wisdom surrounds us. She is relentless in her pursuit of us.
"How long, O simple ones and open [to evil], will you love being simple? And he scoffers delight in scoffing, and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge?" Proverbs 1:22, Amplified
Wisdom poses an honest question. How long? I know that when I sin, the enjoyment may be for a minute, however, that joy is soon replaced by disgust. I do not hate myself, but i do hate the actions and choices that I made to get me to that place of disgust. Nonetheless, the question deserves an answer. How long can one continue to love being simple, or a scoffer or a fool? The question is posed, I feel, for the same reason that the disgust wells up inside of myself. There is no true fulfillment in neither of these things. Simplicity leaves no room for growth, but wisdom is a continually growing dynamic. Scoffing keeps pushing different things away because nothing truly satisfies whereas wisdom embraces things to glean from because the Lord is the Maker and Creator of all things. And the fool has said in his heart that there is no God, but wisdom knows God and loves God.
"If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom], will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you." Proverbs 1:23, Amplified
This is the promise of wisdom, to pour itself out on the one who finds it. In order to find wisdom, one must repent from sin. Repent simply means to make a 180 degree turn in our lives. If we are not running to the Lord then we are running from Him, if we are not running from Him then we are running toward Him. With repentance comes an openness to what the Lord has to say to us. As sinners, none of us wants to speak to a holy and just God. But as a believer, we can envelope every word He has for us. The Lords wisdom is not detrimental to us all, no harm will come from listening to the Lord.
"Because I have called you and you refused [to answer], I have stretched out my hand and no man heeded it, but you have treated as nothing my counsel, and would accept none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic, when your panic comes as a storm and desolation, and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you." Proverbs 1:24-27, Amplified
Wisdom has no choice but to mock the one who denies it. Wisdom is full of knowledge and logic; for one to suffer because they would not listen to that knowledge or logic is quite ironic. But notice the continued promise of wisdom. She states that "when you calamity comes". Make no mistake, the refusal of wisdom will result in calamity. And what happens when that calamity comes? Zechariah speaks of this event in his book, "'But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,' says the Lord of hosts." (Zechariah 7:11-13, NKJV)
"Then will they call upon me [Wisdom], but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel, and despised my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be satisfied of their own devices." Proverbs 1:28-31, Amplified
Hindsight is always 20/20. There will come that day when the simple will remember the call of wisdom, but it will be to late. Wisdom has nothing but good things for us, but the offer is not available to us forever. Now I am not saying that there are some the Lord cannot reach, but there are those who harden themselves so much that they make themselves unreachable. We are constantly molding our future by the choices that we make.
"For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them." Proverbs 1:32, Amplified
It is inevitable that a fool will undue himself, but fools are not fools only for themselves. "For the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity; to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the Lord, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and will cause to drink of the thirsty to fail." (Isaiah 32:6, NKJV)
"But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom], shall dwell securely and in confident trust, and shall be quiet without fear or dread of evil." Proverbs 1:33, Amplified
To heed the call of wisdom leads to a life of security. To listen to the words of wisdom leads to a life of safety. To answer the call of wisdom leads to a life without fear.
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