from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
HOW LONG?
Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
Proverbs 8:1
Tag is typically fun for children. Add a phone and adulthood to the experience and it’s no longer an enjoyable game. It can become frustrating when you can’t connect with someone that you need to talk to!
In Proverbs chapter 1 there is a phone tag of sorts going on between personified Wisdom and her listeners. The result of not connecting goes beyond frustration. Wisdom warns that not answering her call leads to painful consequences!
Wisdom’s first call is public. From the noisy streets, public square, and gateways of the cities, Wisdom cries out to anyone who will hear: “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge” (Proverbs 1:22)?
God asked Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? How long will this wicked community grumble against me” (Numbers 14:11, 27a)? Joshua, Elijah, and Jeremiah asked the same question of God’s people. “How long?” (Joshua 18:3, 1 Kings 18:21, Jeremiah 4:14, 21; 12:4; 31:22; 47:5).
Any amount of time is too long if we’re not walking God’s way. Hear God’s urgent plea through the Psalmist. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts (Psalm 95:8).
Wisdom’s call is rejected. Wisdom said, If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you (v. 23). The aftereffect of rejecting and ignoring the call to be wise leads to the painful consequences of disaster, calamity, distress, and trouble (v. 25-27).
Wisdom will reject our call. It sounds a lot like Aesop’s fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Wisdom says this to those who continually reject her and then cry out when they’re in trouble: They will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me (v. 28).
Each and every day God speaks His wisdom into our lives through His Word, His Spirit, His Creation, and His people. And each and every day we have a choice to listen and obey or reject and ignore. God says, Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm (v. 33). To those who spurn His rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes (v. 30).
Wisdom Step: Is there an area in your life where the Spirit is calling, “How long?” Our time is long but limited. Respond to Wisdom’s call today!
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.
Robert Robinson
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