Knowledge is Good - Bible Study Together
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Thank you for joining Bible Study Together. There is no together without you. We will be here weekly exploring God's Word and getting curious about His nature. Feel free at anytime to share your thoughts, emotions, and questions. This is space will remain respectful and safe. Sister let's join hands together.
Week 1
Let's start this year strong with one of my favorite studies of wisdom. Proverbs, it is always a great place to start when you have nothing planned for the month. There are 31 chapters, one for each day of the month. Easily repeatable. I have read it many times. It still brings light to my life. Let's pray.
Lord thank you for bringing us through another year. We are grateful to be forgiven for our many sins and receiving grace for today in new ways as I learn more about your Word.
In Jesus name we pray amen.
Read proverbs Chapter 1 below. *I will be using the ESV translation*
v. 1-7 Our Why: Guidance
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The Bible is our instruction for life. We often times go about our day to day lives forgetting we have the blueprint of knowledge & wisdom God gave us. That is one of the many advantages of living as apart of the New Testament. That is after Christ has defeated death but, before the Christ's final judgement and evil is destroyed forever. That's the good news but if that is all God wanted to tell us we would know it backwards and forwards. Yet God loved us enough to not only tell us how we should live our lives but, provided us an example to walk it out as it should be done.
The more you read the more you learn and sometimes, the more confused you become because there are some mysteries in God's Word that have yet to be fully understood. Maybe you hold the key to one of these revelations but, you will not know until you read it. God is the judge of what is wise. No one else. Street smart is not the same as wisdom. Knowledge is defined by Merriam Webster as, "information, understanding, or skill that you get from experience or education." Wisdom as, "ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; good sense; judgment."
v. 8-19 Our For: Guidance against Sin
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
9 for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—
15 my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths,
16 for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
We are to remove ourselves from the atmosphere of sin. There is danger in hanging around with those who willfully sin. You could be enticed to sin. We all think we are strong enough to resist what we perceive as little sins: maybe smoking or drinking. Escalating that to smoking or drinking while driving. You aren't participating in smoking and drinking but are in the car when an accident occurs that injures someone. You will have a guilty conscious. We have watched enough news or lived enough life to know if you are in the circle you can go down too. People committing crimes for just being present with the crew end up in jail for life.
After God, there is nothing more important to our path than the decisions we make in our daily lives. Our family is the first in shaping how we make these decisions. That decides what we determine to be important and unimportant choices. I will use my family for example. If you are raised within my grandparents and her siblings you will know the importance of education. College is the expectation from the start. Our family will show up to your graduations and honor's day programs before they decide to come to a birthday party. That shaped my upbringing because I planned all of my schooling first and everything else I could figure out later. Now I know, God is what we should plan and the rest we can figure our later.
v. 20-33 Our Who: Wisdom from God
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25 because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27 when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
As we honor the families we were raised in, Abba Father God is supreme of all. He made this world and it's systems. Would we not want the wisdom of the one who made chaos into order? God is pointing us to more as the world points us to things like money, education, and status. God says, as your maker, I want you to exist freely with ME! Verse 33 "but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and be at ease, without dread of a disaster." What part of that promise do you not want in a world where we receive more breaking news than text messages in a day?
It is within our grasp sisters. We do not need the approval of the world, only the Presence of God! Take time to consider the reflection questions below. You can journal or start a conversation for us all below. Thank you for allowing God into your space today may we see you again soon.
Reflection Questions: |
In what way is God trying to show you His wisdom today? |
What would your life look like if God was your family? |
Do you want to dwell with God daily? |
Sources: https://www.esv.org/Proverbs+1/
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