Proverbs 9:10 – Verse of the Day 10/27/14

Have you ever seen something that looked beautiful at first glance, but when you looked more closely you could tell it was really disgusting and rotten? Jesus accused the Pharisees of being just like that when he called them “whitewashed tombs.” They appeared holy on the outside, but their hearts were rotten and dying because they lived for themselves instead of God.

This verse is from a proverb that makes the same point. It speaks of wisdom as the hostess of a beautiful house with a wonderful banquet table, and it speaks of folly as a temptress who invites her guests to what looks at first like an amazing dinner but all the guests are really dead people. It is a very gruesome sight. This verse lies in between those two pictures, as the loving father teaches his sons how to tell the difference between the wisdom that leads to life and the folly that leads to death.

Because we live in a world that values pleasure and the trivial, concepts such as “fear of the Lord” and “knowledge of the Holy one” are not always as attractive to us as they ought to be. As you pray consider practical ways in which you might more faithfully seek to understand and fear the loving God who longs to give us understanding.