Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Wisdom that leads to perfection of Creation
Proverbs 8:22-33
Vs 22 - "The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old..."

 Proverbs 8 is the best-known chapter in Proverbs and has profoundly influenced Jewish and Christian thought. It develops the wisdom’s intimacy with God and desire to be with human beings. The Gospel of John portrays Jesus in the language of wisdom in Proverbs: Jesus, like Wisdom, calls out to people to listen to Him, promises to tell them the truth, seeks disciples, invites them to a banquet, and gives them life.
God created the earth and humans to fulfill His mission in this world, but human beings disobeyed God and were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. God was concerned about the rebelliousness of His people and the rightness of His judgment was upon them. Since there was a cause-and-effect relationship between the sins of the people and their suffering, the implication is that God, having forgotten those sins, is ready to restore their fortunes.

There are two types of wisdom – worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. Worldly wisdom enables us to maneuver through the world on a daily basis, but heavenly wisdom enables us to distinguish between the right and wrong when we maneuver through the world. Everyone thinks that what he or she does is absolutely correct, but when it is viewed with heavenly wisdom, we find that our actions are not according to God’s plans to fulfill His mission and purpose in this world.

In the Scriptures it is written that God rested on the seventh day after creating the Earth and everything upon it. He promised that we will enter in this rest, but God is burdened for the spiritual well-being of His church. He is a true shepherd of His flock. He admonishes all of His congregation, to revere him with a Godly fear to enter into God's rest. He is concerned about his people who are drifting from trusting in God's word and fellowship with other believers.

The juxtaposition of compassion, justice and Sabbath suggests that the Sabbath is most fully used as a day of worship by the demonstration of compassion and justice. After all, the Sabbath itself is a remembrance of God’s justice and compassion in delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt.

The Proverb 8: 22-31 is not a direct reference to any person and is only a personification. The wisdom referred to here is not a reference to Jesus. Rather, it is a personification of the virtue or character of wisdom for the purpose of emphasis and impact. However, since Jesus is the perfect wisdom of God, He is the only one who perfectly personified and exemplified the wisdom spoken of in Proverbs — for “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col. 2:3).
 
PRAYER
 Lord of wisdom, grant me the ability to distinguish the right and wrong so that I can fulfill your purpose in this world.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Are we relying on the worldly wisdom or seeking heavenly wisdom to maneuver in our lives on a daily basis?

Atty. Lal Varghese, Branch MTC, Dallas
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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