The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.
How do you define success? That is one of the most important questions in life. If you do not define what success means for you, then someone else will. If you chase the wrong definition of success, your life will be fundamentally misdirected. Proverbs teaches us in these two verses how to understand success from God's point of view.
You're a new dad! You're probably feeling excited, nervous, insecure, and newly motivated. As a father of five sons, I've been thinking about lessons I've learned along the way. My goal in this post is to pass along some of the wisdom I've gleaned to help you as you begin your journey as a new dad.
The reward for obedience to God's commands is life and peace. In Christ, this reward is completely yours! His perfect obedience is credited to your account. Not only does his obedience count for you, but he gives the grace and power for you to live a life of obedience now.
What does this mean for you under the New Covenant? We know the old covenant is obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). For, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). Under this new covenant, Christ took the curse of your sin (Galatians 3:13), and you receive the blessings of his obedience (Galatians 3:14). Therefore, your ability to remain in the "land" (now to be understood as your life in Christ), is wholly dependent upon the grace of God at work in you through the Spirit of God (Romans 8:1-17). You have received the promise to be "in the land" eternally because you are now in Christ (Romans 8:18-30; Colossians 3:2-4). Truly, there is nothing that can separate you from his love.
Guarding your heart against sexual immorality is one of the primary functions of the wisdom of God in the lives of his children. You cannot underestimate the danger sexual immorality poses to your soul, especially adultery.
What evil people do is flip the script on what is right, just, and fair. They twist the truth in a knot in an attempt to justify evil and condemn righteousness. Then, they try to pull you into that same way of evil with them. God's wisdom, in contrast, gives you a proper understanding of goodness, righteousness, justice, and equity, and wise people will try to pull into the way of life.
God is the source of all life. Therefore, when you walk in his ways, that very obedience to his word becomes a shield around you, guarding you against the forces of death, sin, and evil. When God gives you wisdom, when he opens your heart to understand him and his word, inherent to that knowledge is the protection of your soul.
There is no greater quest you can give yourself to than knowing God more every day. God has revealed himself to us in his word. The most direct path to knowing God, then, is to give yourself to his word like someone who is searching for a hidden treasure!
Turning away from the reproof of God leads to the destructive force of complacency.