No Swirls Allowed
Read Proverbs 8:1-36
1. Listen as Wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice!
2. On the hilltop along the road, she takes her stand at the crossroads.
3. By the gates at the entrance to the town, on the road leading in, she cries aloud,
4. “I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people.
5. You simple people, use good judgment. You foolish people, show some understanding.
6. Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right,
7. for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception.
8. My advice is wholesome. There is nothing devious or crooked in it.
9. My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge.
10. Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
11. For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.” Proverbs 8:1-11
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Ice cream can sometimes be bought in a “swirl”—a mix of two flavors, usually chocolate and vanilla. It’s for those who can’t decide on one or the other, or who like both equally well, or who like the mix itself. But what is good in ice cream is bad in moral habits.
Proverbs 8 is a call to make right choices—to hate evil. There is no mixing of good and evil here.
Other proverbs in this chapter teach us why wisdom is more valuable than gold and even priceless.
“All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech” (Proverbs 8:13). Most of us have a mix of love and hate for evil. We know we should hate lying and hypocrisy, yet there are times when they come in handy. We know we should love sexual purity and honesty, yet there are times when our minds turn to impure thoughts, and deceit seems less painful than being honest.
Respect for God clears away the inconsistencies. Think about the place God deserves to have in your life, and fear the consequences of not giving him proper place. When you make the decision to love God wholeheartedly, love for sin will not be able to coexist in your life.
