Proverbs 19
Proverbs 19
Proverbs, being one of the books of the Old Testament classified as wisdom literature, is just that – writings recorded by King Solomon who was moved to share God’s wisdom with future readers. Proverbs is like a shotgun of wisdom lessons that God shares with us through Solomon. You can jump in anywhere in the book and immediately start picking up truths to build into your life.
In today’s passage, I was able to pick out multiple themes. In this one chapter, Solomon touches on truths about poverty and wealth. He deals with knowledge, wisdom, and foolishness. He deals with industriousness and laziness. He touches on dishonesty and truthfulness. Each verse is a lesson that stands on its own. Each verse can be studied, meditated upon, and its truth implemented into our lives.
Recognizing that in this brief devotion, it is not possible to deal with all the themes in the passage, lets zero in on one verse. Out of Chapter 19, verse 2 is the one that attracted my attention: “Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way!”
There is significant practical truth in that verse. “Desire without knowledge is not good…” What does he mean by that? As with many proverbs, this one is like a diamond. It has multiple facets, which can show different reflections as you look at it from different angles. Consider for a moment on the things we often desire. An area of desire in our materialistic culture is possessions (cars, houses, clothing, electronics, etc. etc. etc.). Other examples could be our desire for a spouse, a job, a position, personal recognition, and the like. We can spend significant time thinking about, talking about, and pursuing these things. The question is why do we focus our desire on these things? The simple answer is because we think, in some way, they will either bring us pleasure or elevate our status in the eyes of others. Often, we really haven’t stopped to think, why do I desire this? Is it based on knowledge? What kind of knowledge? God’s knowledge? Knowledge of the world?
This verse gives us pause to step back and reflect on our desires and what is motivating them. If our desires are motivated by knowledge gained from scripture and our walk with God, they can lead us in a productive and good direction. Godly desires are characterized by humility with priority on God and others (Mt 22:36-40). If we entertain desires that aren’t based on the knowledge and wisdom of God, Solomon says “it is not good”. Typically those desires are all about ourselves. He says when we are hasty to chase those kinds of desires, that we will “miss the way”. We make costly mis-steps in our lives.
So, the walkaway from studying this verse is to do some self-reflection:
When our desires are aligned with the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord, we can expect the blessing of being protected from costly mis-steps that misplaced desires bring in our lives.
By: Mike Wilson, Leadership Team
Proverbs, being one of the books of the Old Testament classified as wisdom literature, is just that – writings recorded by King Solomon who was moved to share God’s wisdom with future readers. Proverbs is like a shotgun of wisdom lessons that God shares with us through Solomon. You can jump in anywhere in the book and immediately start picking up truths to build into your life.
In today’s passage, I was able to pick out multiple themes. In this one chapter, Solomon touches on truths about poverty and wealth. He deals with knowledge, wisdom, and foolishness. He deals with industriousness and laziness. He touches on dishonesty and truthfulness. Each verse is a lesson that stands on its own. Each verse can be studied, meditated upon, and its truth implemented into our lives.
Recognizing that in this brief devotion, it is not possible to deal with all the themes in the passage, lets zero in on one verse. Out of Chapter 19, verse 2 is the one that attracted my attention: “Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way!”
There is significant practical truth in that verse. “Desire without knowledge is not good…” What does he mean by that? As with many proverbs, this one is like a diamond. It has multiple facets, which can show different reflections as you look at it from different angles. Consider for a moment on the things we often desire. An area of desire in our materialistic culture is possessions (cars, houses, clothing, electronics, etc. etc. etc.). Other examples could be our desire for a spouse, a job, a position, personal recognition, and the like. We can spend significant time thinking about, talking about, and pursuing these things. The question is why do we focus our desire on these things? The simple answer is because we think, in some way, they will either bring us pleasure or elevate our status in the eyes of others. Often, we really haven’t stopped to think, why do I desire this? Is it based on knowledge? What kind of knowledge? God’s knowledge? Knowledge of the world?
This verse gives us pause to step back and reflect on our desires and what is motivating them. If our desires are motivated by knowledge gained from scripture and our walk with God, they can lead us in a productive and good direction. Godly desires are characterized by humility with priority on God and others (Mt 22:36-40). If we entertain desires that aren’t based on the knowledge and wisdom of God, Solomon says “it is not good”. Typically those desires are all about ourselves. He says when we are hasty to chase those kinds of desires, that we will “miss the way”. We make costly mis-steps in our lives.
So, the walkaway from studying this verse is to do some self-reflection:
- What are my desires?
- Are they based on Godly knowledge?
- Where are my desires likely to lead me?
- Am I pointed at the good things and wisdom of God?
- Do I have Godly knowledge that steers my desires to good places?
When our desires are aligned with the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord, we can expect the blessing of being protected from costly mis-steps that misplaced desires bring in our lives.
By: Mike Wilson, Leadership Team
1 Comment
This was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for zeroing in on that particular verse!