A Traveling Companion

When it comes to our life paths, much of the wisdom Proverbs offers boils down to:

A Traveling Truth: Your direction determines your destination.

An Attention Axiom: You get to choose what captures your attention.

A Focus Fact: (We’ll look at this tomorrow.)

Today, let’s consider the most important part of our journey – our traveling partners.

Very few paths are worth taking if we have to travel them alone. Just think of all the travelers you know who simply could not go alone: Marlin & Dory, Shrek & Donkey, Frodo & Samwise, Woody & Buzz, C-3PO & R2-D2. Who else?

Proverbs 8 offers us the perfect traveling partner who is personified as a person called Wisdom. Solomon tells us about wisdom’s plea (8:1-11), wisdom’s profit (8:12-21), and wisdom’s promises (8:32-36). Most importantly, in 8:22-31 Solomon tells us that wisdom is a person. The actual person Solomon was describing is Jesus. (Compare Proverbs 8:27-30 to John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-17, and Colossians 2:2-3.)

You can take some of the truths we’ve explored this week and apply them to your life and experience good changes, BUT if you want to experience the full depth of change - if you want to have confidence that you are on the right path - that only happens in a relationship with Jesus.

As we conclude this study in the book of Proverbs, my question isn’t so much about the path you are on, but about Who is walking with you. Have you invited Jesus to walk with you? Are you striving to listen to His voice and follow His guidance?

If your answer is NO, I want to encourage you to invite Jesus to be your traveling companion. You don’t have to pray this exact prayer, but whatever words you pray to Jesus, you must pray them with faith that Jesus is God and that He is ready to begin walking with you and changing you.

“Jesus, I have not been walking with you, and I am sorry. Will you please walk with me and change me so I listen to your voice and follow your path? Thank you for forgiving me and for coming to walk with me.”