“What do you want to eat?”
It’s a decision so common everyone has to answer it daily, yet so often maddening there’s still hungry couples driving around trying to figure it out. In a world with seemingly endless options it becomes nearly impossible to know what the right choice is. This is true for all kinds of decisions, not just the most important ones like dinner plans or what to binge watch. The reality is we are constantly faced with decisions; where should I go to school? Should I take this new job? Should we move? How should we think about the future? What about my family? Kids? Friends? It can be overwhelming and exhausting.
Even more, as we think about all these decisions, how do we seek wise answers from a godly perspective. It’s one thing to feel like I know the right answer, but how does God define a wise path? The book of Proverbs gives a collection of short teachings (proverbs) that define the difference between a wise path that leads to righteousness and a foolish path that leads to destruction. God desires that his people live wisely, that we seek to be holy as he is holy, and that we might have life abundantly. Our culture doesn’t often consider or care what God desires, but when we have put our faith in Christ our hearts are transformed to desire to follow Jesus. But wisdom to live this way is gained through teaching and experience. Through the Scriptures God teaches us what he desires his people to know and understand about himself and ourselves; through Proverbs the Lord imparts wisdom about how to face the multitude of decisions in our lives. Jesus does not seek to burden us with a greater weight on every decision; he came to set us free, that the wise path becomes increasingly more desirable and more easily discerned.
In our new series, Which Way?, we will explore some of the wisdom in Proverbs and try to garner insight into decisions about work, family, finances, and planning for the future. The hope we have in Jesus gives us renewed minds that can seek wisdom from the Lord and apply it in our lives. The book of Proverbs delivers that wisdom in memorable phrases that help us decide which way to go.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7