Hey, Mrs. Kurtz. This is a weird, vague question with no context, but what can I do to be better and have a good life when I am older and stay happy?
Dear Friend,
I love your question!
Yesterday I began reading the Proverbs, and what I read fits perfectly with your inquiry. So let's dig into a few of them, shall we?
These are the proverbs of Solomon, David's son, king of Israel.
Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insight of the wise.
Their purpose is to teach people to live
disciplined and successful lives,
to help them do what is right, just and fair.
These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
knowledge and discernment to the young.
Did you catch what Solomon said about his proverbs? They were meant to teach, to give wisdom, to guide in life. Hooray--it's just what we need to answer this big question!
To what does Solomon equate "success"? I see: wisdom, discipline, understanding, discernment, insight, doing what is right, just and fair (Micah 6:8 again)
To whom does Solomon want to bestow his wisdom? to the simple and to the young: to those who need (and hopefully want) to choose the right life course.
Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.
Let those with understanding receive guidance
by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables,
by the words of the wise and their riddles.
Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Solomon's words come with a challenge: "Let". In other words, there is a choice to be made. It's not enough to "listen". Rather, we must choose to explore the meaning of the proverbs and parables we're given. We must think, seeking understanding on a deeper level. It is a treasure to pursue, not simply something handed to us in a neatly wrapped package. This is an adventure!
Here is what separates the wise from the fools:
their response to the offer of wisdom.
Wow! We've already begun to grow in wisdom!
My son, listen when your father corrects you.
Don't neglect your mother's instruction.
What you learn from them will crown you with grace
and be a chain of honor around your neck.
Our first responsibility in life begins as children. We are to listen to and learn from our parents, and their influence should impact our lives positively. God gives us this family structure so that we are shaped by loving influences from our very first breath.
My son, if sinners entice you,
turn your back on them!
They may say,
"Come and join us. Let's hide and kill someone! Just for fun let's ambush the innocent! Let's swallow them alive, like the grave;
let's swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death. Think of the things we'll get! We'll fill our houses with all the stuff we take. Come, throw in your lot with us; We'll share all the loot."
My son, don't go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths.
They rush to commit evil deeds.
They hurry to commit murder.
If a bird sees a trap being set,
it knows to stay away.
But these people set an ambush for themselves;
they are trying to get themselves killed.
Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
it robs them of life.
Especially in our youthful years (but continuing throughout life), we will encounter two voices. Here we see their influence, and it is negative, evil, and quite foolish. Oh, the voices aren't always this easy to spot, but we all have encounters with voices like these, calling us to abandon what is right and good, and instead be lord of our own lives and values.
Sometimes what they are offering is so tantalizing, and we can't see anything but the pleasure or thrill we'll get by joining in their "fun". But their outcome is always the same; they are trapped by their own traps, and robbed of life.
Wisdom shouts in the streets.
She cries out in the public square.
She calls out to the crowds along the main street,
to those gathered in front of the city gate:
"How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? Come and listen to my counsel. I'll share my heart with you and make you wise."
Wisdom offers to share her "heart" and to make us wise. Wow! The contrasts between the two voices are clear, and the invitation is compelling.
"I called you so often, but you wouldn't come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered.
"So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you!--when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you."
"When you cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD. They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them.
"Therefore they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes. For simpletons turn away from me--to death."
'Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.'
'But all who listen to me will live in peace,
'untroubled by fear of harm.' (Proverbs 1)
It is this last verse that gives me chills: "Fools are destroyed by their own complacency".
Complacency, according to Merriam-Webster: "self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies" and "an instance of usually unaware or uninformed self-satisfaction".
When we are complacent,
when we don't listen,
this is when we are heedlessly close to danger.
Yet, wisdom ends her call with the glorious truth of listening to the one voice and making the one choice that counts for all of life: "But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm".
Heavenly Father, the voices of this life sound so tantalizing, and we cannot see the foolishness of our own ways. We need You; will You help us to hear? Will You draw us closer to Yourself?
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