My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

                                                                                                            Proverbs 7:1-3 

Today: Read Proverbs 7

Today’s passage is a plea on the part of a father for his son to heed his instructions. In context, exercising obedience to wise counsel would serve to protect the son from the wiles of the harlot or adulteress. In a larger context, wisdom acts as a buffer between our hearts and the destructive philosophies of the world. Here are three ways in which adherence to wisdom can benefit us and protect us spiritually.

Wisdom Can Steer Us Clear Of Calamity

We all fail. It is a part of life that we will make mistakes, but wisdom can actually assist us in avoiding many of those mistakes. I wonder how many of us have said something like, “If only I knew then what I know now.” Wisdom applied to the front end of our lives can yield tremendous benefits in that it can steer us clear of the trappings of the world. I believe this is the very reason why parents should do everything in their power to raise their children in the ways of God. I cannot overstate the gratitude that I have for the raising and parental influence that I received as a child. I am aware that not everyone has been blessed to grow up in and be raised in a Christian home but for those of us who were, the foundation laid is something on which no one can put a price. Although there may have been times when it appeared to my parents that their efforts were in vain, the spiritual foundation given to me by their example proved priceless in my development.

Our culture has shifted though. Training our children to be athletes, scholars, and successful entrepreneurs seems to have taken priority over that of spiritual training. Evidence of this can be seen in the amount of time spent in the various activities of the child. There is absolutely nothing wrong with training our children in these areas but when it is accompanied with a void of honest conversation about the realities of eternity and spiritual life and death, we are shortsighted. If our children gain the whole world yet forfeit their own souls, what has really been gained? (Luke 9:25) I believe this shift can be attributed to two things. One is divided families. This can be through divorce but it is not limited to that. Entire families will naturally split along spiritual lines largely in part of the reality that light and darkness have nothing in common (Luke 12:51-53). The second reason is the reality that many parents themselves are not actually saved. It is quite impossible to pass down to a child something that we ourselves do not possess. So cultural shift, the prioritizing of material things over spiritual ones, divided homes, and the absence of a true conversion to Jesus on the part of the parents all add up to a lack of wisdom being passed down to the next generation. But when acquired, wisdom has the ability to steer us clear of calamity.

Wisdom Can Be Obtained As We Learn From Our Mistakes

Although wisdom is best applied on the front end of our lives (as a preventative), we will still find ourselves falling into the same trappings as many who have gone before us. The difference between those who fall and still move on to victory versus those who fall and stay there is the determination to learn from those mistakes. While the world is stuck in an endless cycle of falling into sin, the Christian has mighty weapons with which to fight against these deceptions.

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He taught us that we should be prepared to forgive someone as often as they come to us and admit their failure. Jesus describes this attitude as forgiving “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). In other words, we are to forgive as many times as necessary. As believers, it is vital for us to understand that God is willing to do the very same thing that He is instructing us to do. One of the ways we move victoriously through mistakes is by accepting the forgiveness that God is more than willing to give us when we ask. It might be tempting to think that God will only forgive the first time we fall into a sin but if we repeat it, He will grow weary of forgiving and refuse. While we should be serious in our turning from destructive behaviors, God will forgive as we fall during the process. If we are learning from the mistakes we have made, receiving forgiveness from God (and others), and moving forward in the power of the Spirit, we will find wisdom, healing, and victory on the other side of failure. But if we get caught in faulty thinking about our failure (i.e. “God will never forgive me”) then we are destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. It is not difficult to see that the enemy would traffic in shame and guilt since these are the very things that have the ability to keep us trapped in sin. But for those who “forget what is behind and press on toward what is ahead”, there is victory and power (Philippians 3:13-14). Wisdom can keep us clear of pitfalls, but when we do fail, wisdom can be obtained by learning from our mistakes.

Wisdom Can Be Obtained As We Learn From The Mistakes Of Others

Finally, we don’t have to make all of the mistakes ourselves rather we can often learn from the mistakes of others. This is where scripture is very beneficial. For those believing that the men and women God has used throughout history were something on the order of perfect, they were not. Apart from Christ Himself, everyone who has walked this earth is severely flawed and capable of falling into the most egregious of sin. But that is the point of the gospel. God takes imperfect people, many of which the world deems useless, and demonstrates His power by using them in mighty ways for the kingdom.

We can observe the mistakes of others, determining to avoid behaving in the same manner, but we need to go a step further. While avoiding the mistakes of others is a worthy endeavor, trying to accomplish a blemish free life apart from the power of God will only prove futile and frustrating in the end. We have to possess something beyond ourselves in order to save us from ourselves. This is the power of the cross. Seeing victory over sin in the life of someone else should give us hope for the same outcome. Mistakes can be thought of as weaknesses or they can be viewed as opportunities to demonstrate the power of God in our lives. Whether it is those in scripture or those who are a part of our lives today, wisdom is there to be obtained from the lives of others.