The way of wisdom
We take a look at Proverbs 8 in today's Bible study
Verse of the Day: “For whoever finds me finds life, and receives favor from the Lord. But those who miss me injure themselves. All who hate me love death.” - Proverbs 8:35-36
“For whoever finds me finds life”.........In this book of Proverbs, wisdom is being personified. Verses 22-31 describe how wisdom was there with the Lord from the very beginning. Verse 25 says “Before the mountains were formed, before the hills, I was born”....This is interesting to me because this could very well be about Jesus. Compare this to the beginning of John 1:
“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” - John 1:1-5
Jesus was with God from the very beginning. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is God in human form. And without a doubt, Jesus is wisdom. You won’t find a single scripture where Jesus was not wise. He is truth. And because He is truth, He is wisdom. When we find Jesus, we find life.
“And receives favor from the Lord”.......When we commit our lives to following Jesus and modeling everything we do after Him, we will find favor from the Lord. This is a gift that we receive from God. We will most often find favor after doing something wise. As we grow in wisdom, we will grow in favor of the Lord. Jesus was no exception.
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” - Luke 2:52
“But those who miss me injure themselves”..........The worst mistake we can ever make is to deny Jesus. There are great consequences to this.
“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” - Mark 8:38
“Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” - 1 John 2:22-23
We not only injure ourselves in this life here on earth, but the life to come, when we miss Jesus. We must live through Him. There’s no other way to do good in this life. There is no other way to God than through Christ.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” - John 15:5
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6
“All who hate me love death”.........what a chilling verse this is. When we choose this world over Jesus, we are choosing death. Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters. We will hate one and love the other. If we are loving anything more than God, according to His word, we are hating Him. And when we hate God, we are not choosing life for ourselves. What feels like freedom to our flesh is actually slavery and bondage. Our sinful nature will fight like hell, no pun intended, to keep us in chains. But God’s grace and love is stronger.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23
All throughout scripture, even in the Old Testament, the stories and passages all point toward Jesus. Jesus is the prize. Jesus is the Life. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the Way. And in relation to Proverbs, Jesus is wisdom.
Choose wisdom today. Choose Jesus.