September 12

PROVERBS 4

Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
² for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching.
³ When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
⁴ he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words;
  keep my commandments, and live.⁵ Get wisdom; get insight;
  do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶ Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.
⁷ The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.
⁸ Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;  she will honor you if you embrace her.
⁹ She will place on your head a graceful garland;

 she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” – Proverbs 4:1-9

PROVERBS 4 HOLD FAST TO GOD’S WORD

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

The Lord gives his wisdom to his people through his teachings

He gave his beloved children good insights and precepts

He gave him his commands so that they can be protected

Hold fast to his laws and truth so you can overcome evil

When you cling to his word, you will begin to have wisdom

Wisdom will be a garland on your head and also be a crown.

Solomon continues to crusade for wisdom in these following verses. He enumerates the benefits when we hold fast to God’s word because it is the only and absolute source of wisdom. He wants God’s people to treasure it like a valuable possession that will enhance the life of those who believe in God.

The bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16 that ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. So, you can imagine if someone does not know God and doesn’t know his word. They don’t have wisdom. They do not know how to navigate in this corrupt world system. The only thing they know is what the world has given them, which is not for their own good.

REFLECTION

• Share an experience in your life when you held fast to God’s word.

September 11

PROVERBS 3

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
    tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
²⁹ Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.
³⁰ Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.
³¹ Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,
³² for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord,
    but the upright are in his confidence.
³³ The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
    but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
³⁴ Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.
³⁵ The wise will inherit honor, but fools getdisgrace.

                                                                – Proverbs 3:27-35

PROVERBS 3 HELP OR GIVE WITHOUT DELAY  

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When someone you know is in need of help, do not delay

If it is within your power to extend assistance, do it quickly

If we procrastinate to give help to those in need, we are indifferent

When God gives us opportunities to show love, let’s respond promptly

If we delay giving at those times that our neighbors need it badly

We are caving in to the devil’s plot to make us more unloving and selfish.

Have you ever experienced someone asking your help and you didn’t give it at once? We all have done that at one or more occasions in our lives. One of the reasons we do so is because of our sinful nature. We are all selfish by nature and we always think of ourselves first and our comforts. We do not want to be uncomfortable or inconvenienced, so we don’t respond soon enough. We justify and analyze and then we don’t do anything. Solomon gives us wisdom when to extend help or give assistance to others. He advises us to do it without delay if it is in our power to do so. Procrastinating giving that help is not heeding the Holy Spirit’s invitation to show love to others.

REFLECTION

• How can we develop the mindset to extend help to others without delay?

September 5

PROVERBS 2

Then you will understand righteousness and justice
    and equity, every good path;
¹⁰ for wisdom will come into your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ discretion will watch over you,
    understanding will guard you,
¹² delivering you from the way of evil,
    from men of perverted speech,
¹³ who forsake the paths of uprightness
    to walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴ who rejoice in doing evil
    and delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵ men whose paths are crooked,
    and who are devious in their ways. – Proverbs 2:9-15

PROVERBS 2 WISDOM PROTECTS US FROM EVIL

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Whenever we seek wisdom from God’s truth

It leads us to discern and understand what is true

The absolute source of wisdom is the Lord God himself

He gives us his word so we can embrace light and forsake darkness

When we seek God’s word, we begin to see the lures of the devil

It protects us from being ensnared and helps us see the enemy’s tactics.

Many people sin because they have not pursued wisdom. By nature, we are sinful and corrupt. We cannot change our tendencies to sin by relying on our own understanding. In the past, when I didn’t truly know the Lord, I used to think that I could pursue human knowledge and solve all my problems myself. I didn’t understand that the source of knowledge was God himself. I got entangled with the darkness of this world and believed all the lies that the systems of this world offered. Culture, traditions and generational beliefs became my go to. It wasn’t until the Lord gave me that desire to hunger for his word, that all the lies I was born into got exposed through his truth. I was freed.

REFLECTION

• Share an incident where wisdom saved you from sin.