Renewed in Wisdom—Proverbs 3:13-35

If I'm flipping pancakes, my kids want a turn with the spatula. If I'm slicing apples, they want a turn with the knife. If I mow the lawn, they want to try out the lawnmower. Whatever tool Papa's using, the kids want to use it too. They're born to imitate, and it's a beautiful thing.

As children are made to imitate their parents, human beings are made to imitate God. And as parents have tools they use -- spatulas, knives, lawnmowers -- God has a tool, too. It's called wisdom. We're made to imitate God's wisdom. Sadly, mankind has fallen far from the image of God. We've become fools, and we've lost the skill of using wisdom. But the good news is that Jesus Christ renews fools in the image of a wise God.

Proverbs 3:13-35 teaches us about treasuring wisdom, about imitating a wise God, and about treating others wisely.

It teaches us to treasure wisdom. The father who speaks in the book of Proverbs is still making his case for the value of wisdom. Maybe you've had a conversation where you are trying to convince someone of something, and they say they believe you, but you're not convinced that they're convinced. So you strengthen your case. That's what the father does here. Verses 13-18 are another poem in praise of wisdom, convincing us to value wisdom above earthly things. Are you convinced?

What if you opened your Bible one day, and found that it had been hollowed out and the inside filled with gold coins? Would you be happy? Proverbs says you should be crushed: the "gain" from wisdom is "better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold." What if you came to church one day, and instead of reading the Bible we were handing out cash? You should be offended and disappointed. Wisdom "is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her."

As the book of Proverbs goes on, the description of Wisdom becomes increasingly romantic. "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed."

So wisdom is valuable and attractive. But there's something else. Wisdom is God's way of doing things, God's tool. "The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew." If we are children of God, we will imitate him by using the tool he used. It's pretty amazing, actually, that the means by which God made all things is, on some earthly level, available to us.

The problem is that we can't imitate God, because we've fallen away from him. We were made in the image of God, but our sin has broken that image: not utterly erased it, but horribly distorted it, so that, like a shattered mirror, we throw back a fragmented reflection. God's wisdom shines on us, and we reflect folly in return.

The solution, however, comes through Jesus Christ. The Bible calls him both the image of God and the wisdom of God. He who is both God's wisdom and God's image came to earth to save sinners. He gave his life in our place, and rose again from the dead. And now, everyone who believes in him has "put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." Once again, through Christ, we can imitate the wisdom of the God who made the world by wisdom.

What's the result? Proverbs say that everyone who imitates God's wisdom gets life, adornment, security, freedom from fear, and sweet sleep. Wow! Don't you want that? OK, these are long-range blessings: You might still have something that keeps you up at night. But if you do lie awake, and you think of the things that might worry you, you can remember that God has promised to watch over you: "Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught."

Are you convinced to seek wisdom? Then let's get specific. The last section of the passage gives us five rules of wisdom which teach us to treat others wisely.

The first and second rules are closely tied. "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it' -- when you have it with you." You might get some advantage to holding back someone's pay for a day -- maybe you would gain a little interest money. But we shouldn't be out to take advantage of our neighbors. God loves fairness.

The third rule says, "Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you." Many of us, when we were kids, have stuck out a foot to trip a sibling or a friend as he walked by. When he fell down, he looked really foolish. Proverbs says, you're the real fool, you who ambush your friend. You're the one who lacks wisdom.

Fourth: "Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm." There's a time to contend. But do you have the reputation of being contentious? That's not good.

Fifth: "Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways." Don't be violent, of course. But don't even think that way. Don't imagine in your head what you'd like to do to the other guy.

Why not?

Because, says Proverbs, God divides people into two categories. The devious and the upright. The wicked and the righteous. The scorners and the humble. The fools and the wise. And you don't want to be on the wrong side of the division, because if you are, the Lord himself will make sure things go badly for you.

If your conscience is pricked -- if you realize you might be on the wrong side -- you may be worried at this point. You should be. But there's hope. Yes, "The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked." But the good news is that, as Paul says in Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us." If you repent and trust in Christ, you can be sure that God's curse will not fall on you. And not only that, but Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, will transform you into the other sort of person -- into the image of God. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we who believe in Jesus, "with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." This means that Christ is like a light that fixes the broken mirror. As Christ shines on us, all the cracks in the mirror are being healed, so that the wisdom of God is reflected in us at last.

Pastor Nate Jeffries