The Way of Wisdom: A Study of the Book of ProverbsSample

(This day of study was written by Courtney Doctor.)

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with instruction. On one hand, we don’t like being told what to do, where to go, or how to live. We prefer “suggestions” that our autonomous selves can then decide whether we will accept or not. But on the other hand, we’re extremely grateful for things like Google Maps® and IKEA® assembly manuals that tell us exactly where to go and what to do.

We receive all types of instruction all day long. Any scroll through social media will be filled with voices offering plenty of instruction.

I can show you how to make sourdough bread.

I can tell you how to count macros.

I can help you discover your best style.

I can give you foolproof tips to sleep train your child.

Instruction abounds, but there is only one source of instruction that will result in true wisdom.God gave us His Word to reveal Himself and to reveal how we can know, be saved by, and follow Him. His Word is both life and instruction on how to live. As Proverbs 10:8 notes, “A wise heart accepts commands, but foolish lips will be destroyed.”

“They are a rebellious people, deceptive children, children who do not want to listen to the Lord’s instruction.”

Isaiah 30:9

Think about some of the things you’ve learned about the way of Folly through this study. What is the folly in not listening to God’s instructions? What do we communicate to Him when we don’t listen and/or obey?

After writing the first five books of the Bible, Moses wrote:

“Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Deuteronomy 32:46-47, ESV

Similarly, in Proverbs 7:1-3, the father instructs the son to obey his words and treasure his commands, to keep his commands and guard his instructions. We are told the result of this will be life! Moreover, the son is instructed to write these instructions on the tablet of his heart. Do you see the similarities between Moses’s words and the words of the father in Proverbs 7?

Matthew 7:24-27 provides a great case study for what happens when we act on the wisdom that we hear. Both men in this parable heard Jesus’s words, but only one of the men—the wise man—acted on them. Both men built houses and both experienced storms: but the house of the fool collapsed, while the house of the wise man stood tall.

Instruction is only helpful to the degree that we believe it’s true and follow through with what it says—just ask anyone who’s tried to assemble a furniture kit without following the instructions. In the same way, simply reading God’s Word is not enough. In order to actually walk on wisdom’s path, we must know, treasure, keep, and obey God’s Word.

Do you struggle most in the knowing, treasuring, or keeping and obeying of God’s Word? End your time today in prayer, asking God to give you the desire and ability to walk in the wise way and to know, keep, and obey His Word.

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For more of this study by Jen Wilkin, Ruth Chou Simons, Kelly Minter, Adrienne Camp, Elizabeth Woodson, and Courtney Doctor, visit lifeway.com/wayofwisdom.