Howdy do
Recently my younger sister challenged me to read through the book of Proverbs – one chapter a day. I failed; promised myself to restart this month and yesterday I forgot. (Guess who’s going to have to double up today?) I think that is how unwise living begins – we plan to make a wise decision and for whatever reason, get lost in the implementation.
I guess that’s what Solomon was referring to in today’s Holy Nougat
““Leave [behind] your foolishness [and the foolish] and live, And walk in the way of insight and understanding.”” PROVERBS 9:6 AMP
For my grandmother and her peers, the first half of this Nougat read something to the tune of ‘break up yuh folly ground’; that is “break up your fallow ground”. In truth, either term (folly-stupid or fallow-unfruitful) works. For foolish acts rarely bring positive fruit.
It is worthwhile noting however, that there is a promise attached to the action. The gift of life. One might surmise that that which does not foster life-enhancing decisions might be construed as foolishness/folly/fallow ground. If this premise were to hold true, might any of us NEED to break up our folly ground?
The Solomonic insight does not allow for too much speculation before inviting us to seek the Way of discernment and wisdom. Might I suggest a few quick resources for accessing such?
1) Prayer – That was what got Solomon into the biblical Hall of Fame. In a profound conversation with God, he chose Wisdom over wealth and got both. In short, we ASK God to gift us with discernment and wisdom.
2) Experience – There is something to be said about learning from experience (others’ insights and experiences as well as our own. Or as a friend of my eldest sister once said, “Learn from experience taught or bought”. Oftentimes our life experiences are such that we might learn from them and share with others.
3) Seek Wise Counsel – Nothing is wrong with asking for advice. We may need to be selective in our choice of wise counsel; but it may prove instructive.
4) Research – whether online, biblical or other source of information consulting the wisdom of ages is an invaluable starting point for some facets of wisdom. It is not always necessary to invent the patented wheel. Learn, fine tune and implement.
With the exception of the first, all the options require discernment to mobilize wisdom. That discernment comes from God.
So, way forward – Pray; Seek understanding, Process details, Apply discerned way forward. Not as simple as it sounds, but way rewarding! Forgive ourselves mistakes, seek God’s and others’ forgiveness where the process requires; (Remember we are WiP’s and so are others) and continually seek God’s guidance.
From one WiP to another – let’s seek Wisdom!
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
