I hope everyone enjoyed a restful Thanksgiving break with family and friends.

Today’s study is of Proverbs 2:6-8:  “For the Lord giveth wisdom:  out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.  He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous.  He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgement, and preserveth the way of His saints.”

This is teaching us that God provides wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and that He protects those who walk with righteousness and decency (ESV uses “integrity”).

M46 Challenge:  Talk to your children about the importance of letting God’s wisdom be a guiding influence in their life.  Let them know that God will protect and provide for them as they listen to His voice.”

The M46 text refers only to verses 6-8, but perhaps the first five verses of Proverbs 2 best set the stage for our challenge.  Consider, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”  (ESV)

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for giving my child wisdom.  I’m thankful for your loving protection and provision, and that you continue to show yourself in her life!  Help her to receive your words with open ear and open heart, to call out for understanding, and to seek your wisdom as her treasure.  In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Thoughts:  Wow, so simple, and yet…I don’t know about you, but I’m not always quick enough to open my ears and heart while crying out for insight and understanding.  Too often, I suppose I probably move too quickly under the guise of decisiveness, concluding that I have the answer – perhaps that’s the difference between having just knowledge, versus knowledge and wisdom.  It’s a difficult discipline to teach when still challenged by my own learning, but perhaps it’s a lifetime challenge for us all.

Tomorrow we’ll talk a bit about mischief.  In the meantime, I hope you have a great start to the new week ahead.  Until then…

Keep it Lit,

T.