Life here and hereafter is about choices.
I think of the scene in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” where the Knight who guarded the Holy Grail—the cup Christ drank from in the Last Supper—beckoned, “choose wisely,” for the wrong cup would bring death and the other life. The American businessman working with the Nazis drank from the golden, gem encrusted, glittering cup. When he was doomed to death, the Knight said, “He choose—poorly.” Indiana Jones chose the simple cup of a Carpenter. “You have chosen wisely,” was the Knight’s affirmation.
The wise choice for us is God’s way. On the surface, it may not have all the sparkle of the world’s splendor, but it will prove of enduring radiance in glory!
THE SUMMONS OF WISDOM, (8:1-11). It is a blessing to us in our senseless ways that God takes the initiative in calling us with a summoning word. Left to ourselves, we would follow the path of folly—as sheep to the slaughter—but, God is gracious and reaches out to us. In our natural state, we would give ourselves to the pursuit of trash, packaged as treasure. Wisdom beckons us to true wealth.
THE SUCCESS BY WISDOM, (8:12-36). Only a fool would determine to fail in life. The problem is that in our depraved mind, we are proud and pursue a perverse pathway. If we would humble ourselves before God and seek His way, we will find the success He means for us. There awaits eternal wealth and everlasting worth—all we need here and abundance hereafter! Wisdom’s attributes are akin to Deity’s, for they are of Divine origin.
THE SHELTER IN WISDOM, (9:1-18). Wisdom builds a house that is secured and supplied, (v.1-6).
It shelters us from the scoffer, (v.7-12). The scoffer is resistant to reproof. His questions are not from genuine desire for wisdom, but to generate questions in the witness and undermine faith. If you are well-acquainted with Biblical bread, you will have no appetite for forbidden fruit. You will sniff it out before you bite into it. If you chew on it, you might spit it out, but you are more likely to swallow some of it. I do not have to taste dung to know it is not chocolate pudding!
It shelters us from the seductress, (v.13-18). Folly is personified as a prostitute. She offers you a night to “live it up,” but her bed is that of the dead! I think of these words in the Eagles’ pop song, “Hotel California:”
The pink champagne on ice
And she said, “We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device"
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax, " said the night man
"We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"
As a teacher of mine was fond of saying, “A word to the wise is sufficient.” Let us listen to wisdom for it is a matter of life and death!
