Life-Giving Wisdom—Proverbs 4

The word "life" runs all through this chapter. "Keep my commandments, and live." "Guard her" (wisdom, that is), "for she is your life." "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

This word from God teaches us that wisdom is the source of life. Is that what you thought? I remember being taught some wilderness survival skills when I was a boy. They told us that the first things you need in order to survive are food, water, and shelter. Find these things first, they said.

But Proverbs says, first, find wisdom. Wisdom is more important than food, water, or shelter. It's way more important than some of the other things we obsess over. It's the source of true life.

The rest of the Bible fills in the picture. There's one particular piece of wisdom that you need to wise up to, one special gem of knowledge that you need to acquire, one item of breaking news that you need to hear and treasure and remember. You need to know about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the wisdom that gives eternal life: that Jesus, the Son of God, became a man, and healed the sick, and gave sight to the blind, and calmed the storm, and then laid down his own life in the place of sinners, and that now he is risen from the dead, and that whoever believes in him and follows him will live forever too.

Belief in Jesus Christ is wisdom that gives eternal life.

This chapter gives us three rules for life -- not just "rules for life" in the way we often use the phrase, meaning "rules to follow throughout life," but rules for life in a more urgent sense: rules by which we may truly live and not die. Here they are: (1) Get Wisdom, (2) Don't Get Lost, and (3) Guard Yourself.

First, get wisdom. The father figure in Proverbs tells us how his own father told him, "Keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth." Getting wisdom is a matter of life and death.

And the beginning of wisdom is -- to get wisdom. Is that obvious? He wouldn't tell us if we didn't need to hear it. We often want to skip the fundamentals and move on to the flashier stuff. But long division will be pretty frustrating if you haven't learned to count. You won't have much fun building a house if you haven't learned to drive a screw. And life won't work out for you if you don't start by getting wisdom.

If the beginning of wisdom is getting wisdom, the beginning of getting wisdom is belief in Jesus Christ. What Solomon could only dream of has happened at last: God has come in the flesh. He wore a crown of thorns and died in our place so that we, trusting in him, can receive the "beautiful crown" that Proverbs talks about. He's the defeater of death and the Lord of life. Trust in him, and you will live. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

This is step 1 in life. Are you looking for a job? First, believe in Jesus Christ. Are you thinking of getting married? First, believe in Jesus Christ. Are you very, very busy, and you don't have a moment to spare? Stop in your tracks, and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Are you very, very sinful, living a life that you know God hates? Now is the time to believe in Jesus Christ. And you will live.

That's first. Second, don't get lost. Stay on the path that Christ has put you on. "I have taught you the way of wisdom," says the father figure, "I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble." I love that last promise. We talk sometimes about walking with God. Proverbs says, yes, and you will even run with God. If you stay on his path, you can go all-out for his glory.

But there's a danger -- another path. "Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil." Now, you probably didn't wake up thinking, "This morning, I'd like to walk in the way of the evil." Sin is more subtle than that. It doesn't usually ask you, "What would you say about entering the path of the wicked today?" It might say, "You can get away with a little gossip today, as long as you talk with people who agree with your critiques." It might say, "Those people who believe in God are not nearly as smart as you are." It might say, "No one can blame you for lashing out at your children when they behave with such ingratitude."

Proverbs says, you don't want to go down that path. For one thing, it causes insomnia: "For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble." Don't you have enough to keep you up at night, without becoming anxious to hurt other people?

Compare these two paths: "The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble." Don't get lost.

Of course, the bad path doesn't always look dark, and the good path doesn't always look bright. Think of the day Jesus died. As he hung on the cross, the light of the sun was blotted out for three hours. Things looked dark in every sense of the word. Often, things look dark for God's people too.

But think of the sun rising on the third day as Jesus left the tomb. His path, which looked so dark, was always headed for eternal glory. It was really getting brighter and brighter all along, even if the world couldn't see it. And it's the same for us, when we follow Christ. We're headed for the everlasting brightness of his presence, whatever sufferings we face now. Don't get lost. Don't go off the path.

Third, guard yourself. It isn't as obvious in the English, but in the Hebrew every verse of Proverbs 4:20-27 includes one or two body parts: ear, heart, flesh, heart again, mouth and lips, eyes and eyelids, feet, foot. The point is to use our whole body for God's glory. Wisdom may reside in the mind (or, in Hebrew terms, the heart), but it plays out in the whole body. Wisdom isn't just a matter of thinking, but a matter of action too. And if it's true of wisdom, it's true of belief in Christ. It affects the way we use our whole bodies. As Jesus said, you will know the tree by its fruit. You will know the heart by the lips and hands and feet. Jesus used his whole body in service to God, and gave his whole body over to death for our sake. So God calls us also to present our whole selves as living sacrifices to him (Romans 12).

But if the whole body is to serve him, it has to begin in the heart: "Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Figuratively speaking, the rest of the body drinks from the water of the heart. If that water is poisoned with sin, the rest of the body will be sinful. If that water is purified with wisdom, the rest of the body will act wisely. Spiritually speaking, if the heart is good, the whole self will live. If the heart is bad, the whole self will die. Guard your heart. Don't let the evil one mess with the watershed of your being.

Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Do you want the water that flows from your heart-spring to be life-giving water? Then believe in Jesus, and live.

Pastor Nate Jeffries