from those whose words are twisted.
These men turn from the right way
to walk down dark paths.
They take pleasure in doing wrong,
and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.
Straight talk
Some people just say it like it is without taking into consideration how their words will be heard. Proverbs are like this. They state facts without wandering into the details surrounding the facts. I mean, it does not get much plainer when you tell someone, “your actions are crooked and your way is wrong!” There is not much wiggle room in a statement like that.
Proverbs are like signs, short and concise with a direct message. Warning: hot surface: Do not touch. Danger: Stay out! Sharp turn ahead slow down! Certainly every warning sign could be nuanced with exceptions and endless details explaining why, how, and when the warning is most applicable. But warning signs are not worried about the exceptions, they provide a general and direct word of advice. Heed a warning sign and you will be safe. Disregard the warning sign and danger is lurking at your door.
Wisdom is a warning sign. Stay away from those who disregard the way of God. Do not get entangled in relationships that take you into the land of danger. God has given us a built-in warning device in wisdom that alerts us to the dangers we encounter in life. Listening to the words of wisdom can save you a lot of heart-ache and trouble.
Father of wisdom, help me to listen to your warnings and disregard the macho “It won’t hurt me” attitude of pride. Confirm in my life the blessing of listening to your warnings. - Dan Jones
Coffee Filters And Bad CounselOur home couldn’t function without coffee filters. Wendy enjoys an occasional chocolate covered coffee bean (double the caffeine that way!) but it’s pretty difficult to drink. One of the highlights of our lives to date was a vacation to Costa Rico where we toured a coffee plantation and processing plant. You’d think we died and went to heaven and returned to earth again with the bags of coffee we brought home. But without the humble paper filter, those beans ground into powder are useless.
I think of wisdom saves me from evil people and their wrong-headed ideas because it acts much like a filter. Despite the practice of some Christians to produce official lists of banned books, and my own religious subculture who often fears letting us hear those whose paths are “twisted ways of evil,” wisdom, I think, doesn’t produce a list of “do not read” or “do not listen to” books or people.
Rather, teaching our biological and spiritual families wisdom, as Solomon seeks to with his son, prepares us to hear from the crowd that despises the truth we live by, ridicules the path we walk, and insists other paths are far more reasonable. Truth is, that crowd has something worthwhile hearing. After all, however twisted, the image of God still resides in everyone.
But how do I determine what I should embrace or reject? Wisdom.
The more I learn the wisdom of God, the better I am able to filter out the garbage, the mumbo jumbo pop wisdom of the age, and the despicable that wraps itself in candy coating. For me, the bottom-line question I hear today is this. Am I pursuing wisdom as if it were more profitable than silver, a better wage than gold, or more precious than rubies (Proverbs 3:14-15)? If I’m not, then my coffee pot fills with disgusting grounds.
Father, as coffee filters must be changed with every new pot of coffee, may I keep the pursuit of your wisdom fresh and new each day. - Mike Leamon
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