four rewards of God's wisdom

I walk in the way of righteousness,

in the paths of justice,

granting an inheritance to those who love me,

and filling their treasuries.

Proverbs 8:20-21

God's wisdom is richly rewarding and in this section of Proverbs, wisdom is personified, offering four rewards to those who seek God's wisdom. The first reward is direction in the path of righteousness. Wisdom from God will always bless a follower with direction in doing what pleases the Lord. Wisdom brings righteousness.

Wisdom also brings along with righteous living, an understanding to navigate life with true justice. It helps bring righteousness to bear where justice is needed, helping us make right choices for all people. Wisdom brings justice.

Wisdom also brings a future of blessing to all who will follow. God promises generational impact to those who will accept and apply His wisdom. This extends beyond the life of a wise person. Wisdom grants an inheritance.

And finally, to those who love wisdom, a measure of success awaits them as God's truth becomes their finest asset in life. The value of wisdom brings strength, hope, success, and a kind of prospering from God's truth that is a unique blessing to those who will wisely follow the Lord. Wisdom is an abundant treasure.

leading by accepting guilt

O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.

Ezra 9:6

Ezra prays this prayer of repentance on behalf of the people he is leading. He was not personally guilty of the sins he was confessing in that he did not intermarry with gentiles in violation of the covenant. Yet as a leader, he assumes responsibility for the wrong within the remnant in Jerusalem. He feels the guilt for those he leads, and so he prays this prayer of confession and repentance.

Good leaders acknowledge where things aren't going well. Great leaders will confess the wrong they find within their organization, taking full responsibility for it and leading in the hard work of necessary change. This is exactly what made Ezra a great leader. He humbly repented before God for the wrongs in Jerusalem among the returned remnant. He leads the people in repentance and change before God. He accepts the shame of the sin and leads the people to change, turning from sin and back to God.

Lord,

I see in Ezra one of the hardest parts of leadership. And I humbly ask that You help me to lead in this way... quick to confess sin, to repent of it and to return to Your grace, truth, and love.

Amen

worth the self-denial

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:27

Self-death and self-denial are the necessary attitudes for following Jesus. You cannot do what you want exclusively or attempt to be your own person as a disciple of Jesus. You identify with your Savior first. Jesus calls us to die to our self-driven agenda. We follow Him carrying a cross in order to crucify our own selfish wants, needs, and ideas. Discipleship is costly. Following Jesus is highly satisfying and rewarding, but it is not easy. The best things will cost time, effort, and sacrifice.

The same is true at a much small level for many things in life. This is a mundane comparison, but it provides perspective for me. My favorite recreation hands down has to be high mountain flyfishing. As a resident Kansan, though, I don't get to do it much, and when I do it is a great effort really. But I will sacrifice to do it. I travel to mountains and hike to back country streams or lakes. This costs me time and money. I'm physically challenged when I do so. But the experience is absolutely breathtaking in every sense of the word. It is worth it to me every time.

If we make such sacrifices for earthly experiences, wouldn't it make sense for the best eternal experiences to require sacrifice and commitment from us? How much more rewarding it will be to sacrifice by cross-carrying so that I will always be with Jesus! He's just ahead of us and wants us to follow. But will we pick up the cross, knowing the cost, yet thrilled for the experience to be had?

to the King

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:17

Paul breathed this prayer of praise after sharing the way in which God took him from being a blasphemer of the gospel, saved him, and turned him into a proclaimer of the new, glorious gospel. It is personal praise in response to God's personal work in his life. It is the heartfelt gushing forth of worship from one redeemed. It puts all the glory back where it belongs... with Jesus Who saved Paul.

Jesus is the eternal King. He has always been with the Father. Through Him God created all things. Jesus will always be with the Father and with us, bearing the scars of His love for us and death for us, showing His obedience to the Father in them, yet always living now for us. Jesus is the immortal God Whose resurrection brings eternal life to all who believe.

Jesus is the invisible God, unseen by us in the present, but known in history as real. He changed human history forever as the one and only God come in human flesh to save us. And Jesus is crowned now with honor and glory at the Father's right hand. Forever and ever we will praise Jesus. It never gets old or routine. When I think of Him in this way, praise pours forth as well.

how we walk

Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

Proverbs 4:26-27

All throughout scripture walking is a metaphor for life. How we walk, where we walk, and why we walk are subthemes of that metaphor. This is the image being explained in this proverb. We are called to walk in a way that pleases the Lord and protects us from evil. There are three ways we walk explained here.

We are deliberate in our steps. This is a deliberate action. We make choices with each step we take. That is why we must ponder our choices. Which path is the right path? We must examine it in the light of scripture and follow the clear work of the Holy Spirit. It must align with the Bible and the gospel to be the right way to go. The Word of God with the Spirit of God will show us the right way. But sometimes we must stop and think and pray for our next steps.

We are dedicated to our steps. We must be determined to staying on the path once we are there. God keeps leading our steps. We continue to make choices to not leave the path and ignore byways or shortcuts. We do not turn any direction unless it aligns with what God shows or calls us to do.

There is no deviation in our steps. We also are aware of the awful consequences of deviation from this path. There is evil off the path of life. Sin can hurt us, mislead us, or destroy us. Our enemy wants us to take what looks like a broad and smoother way. But with this warning, we walk, pondering our path always in the light of God's Word.

God sees and works. We obey.

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Ezra 5:5

God watches over human circumstances so that His glory might be known among us. He moved by His prophets Haggai and Zechariah to motivate the Jews to resume the reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem. An official government edict from Babylon had halted the project for a period of several years. But God does not need governments in order for His work to proceed. His Word moved His people to obey. 

In a stunning reversal of policy, as the Jews continued to bravely defy the order to cease work, the wheels of bureaucracy turned in their favor. Local officials petitioned the new administration under Darius and in the end the government in Babylon lent its full support to the completion of the temple. God used a pagan king to affirm the work of re-establishing worship in Jerusalem.

The eye of God is always on His people. And His hand is always supplying. The only part of the equation that changes is our allegiance and obedience. Will we obey His Word? When we do, God never ceases to supply our need and surprise us with His power.

unless you repent

"No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Luke 13:5

These are the words of Jesus in response to two human tragedies. The first incident was a political evil in which Pilate brutally executed Galilean Jews who had been traveling to the temple to offer sacrifices. The second tragedy was a natural disaster in Jerusalem when a building collapse killed eighteen unsuspecting people.

Jesus' point is that none of those tragedies occurred as an act of God's judgment on "worse sinners". Rather, these things occurred in a sin-cursed environment. No one knows when they will die, yet death is inevitable, and the worst tragedy is to die without repentance of sin. Death's inevitability and its surrounding sorrow should move us to be people who repent of sin.

Oh Lord,

The end of sin is death. But You give eternal life. And in Your grace is a peace that comes in my repentance. And so I want always to have Your gospel to lead me on to repentance. The ongoing response to my sin is a regular, continuous process of repentance so that you can make of this broken life something whole and useful for Your glory.

Amen