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.

Proverbs 1:20-23 ESV

Here, wisdom is personified. I wonder if the intent is to give the reader a more relatable understanding of wisdom. In certain religions or philosophies, wisdom seems to be a thing that is so far out there, or otherworldly, that only a select few can understand what it is or achieve it.

By personifying wisdom, it seems that the writer is attempting to make wisdom relatable, understandable, and attainable … for all.

Challenge: This year make it your goal to befriend wisdom. Make wisdom a welcome part of your daily life. Reading Proverbs each day is a helpful way to do this.

“An excellent wife who can find?

    She is far more precious than jewels.”

Proverbs 31:10 ESV

Here, the writer almost offers a challenge: Who can find an excellent wife? Maybe he’s asking a group of young men, who compete to answer, “I can! I can!” And then to clarify, the writer adds, “She’s far more precious than jewels.” It seems that his audience may have thought that jewels are the most precious thing, so it’s important for them to know that an excellent wife is still more precious than jewels.

The message to men is not only to inform us about the value of an excellent wife, but also to shape our thinking about them. Most have some idea how jewels are treated and treasured. That provides a benchmark for how we should treat and treasure an excellent wife.

Men, are you treasuring your wife better than you would a bag of diamonds? “But she’s not an excellent wife,” some may reply. Is that because you have broken her spirit by not treasuring her appropriately?

The easy thing for us to do is blame the other party for not doing their part. In reality, we have control and responsibility only for ourselves. So, even if she isn’t behaving like an excellent wife for reasons other than you, treat her like a treasure anyway.

“Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”

Proverbs 30:7-9

Agur, the son of Jakeh, offers some wisdom that is very helpful to “those who have ears to hear.” In this proverb he ask for two things before he dies.

First, he asks that falsehood and lying be removed far from him. The alert reader will notice that integrity is a recurring theme in Proverbs. The wise person will take note and accept the instruction (Proverbs 19:20), and begin to eliminate falsehood from his life.

Second, Agur asks that he be supplied with the right amount for his needs. He recognizes that should he have more than enough, he may think he doesn’t need the Lord, thus denying the Lord. And, should he have too little, he may resort to his own ways to provide, thus profaning the Lord’s name.

Agur is wise. He recognizes his own need for God and shapes his thoughts around how he can maintain a good relationship with his God. In other words, he is thoughtful to keep himself in the right place, under God and dependent upon God.

Lord, help me to be wise like Agur.

“He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,

    will suddenly be broken beyond healing.”

Proverbs 29:1 ESV

This proverb provides the visual imagery of Proverbs 13:1, “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”

Thinking of a potter has helped me understand the imagery in this proverb. Most of us have probably seen a potter take a blob of clay, plop it onto a wheel, and begin to shape it. Round and round the piece goes as the potter presses his thumb to move the clay. Think of his thumb as the reproof or correction. As the clay receives the corrective thumb of the potter, it begins to take shape into something usable. To the degree that the clay does not receive the potter’s shaping, to that degree it remains a blob of clay.

If you’ve seen a potter working on a wheel, you’ve probably seen him put a bit of water on the clay to keep it moist and malleable. In other words, as long as the clay is moist, it can be shaped. Though it naturally resists being shaped, it can still be shaped. However, as the clay dries it becomes more risky to make changes. But, at a certain point, the clay is too dry and hardened to be changed at all. Any effort to shape the dry, hardened clay, will break it. Each time a fool resists correction, he dries a bit and becomes more susceptible to breaking.

I don’t think the potter and clay imagery is perfect, but it has helped me to visualize the danger of being a fool, one who does not listen to rebuke.

Lord, soften my heart that I may not only receive correction, but be shaped into a vessel fit for your use.

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity

    than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”

Proverbs 28:6 ESV

Many have seen this proverb represented through two characters in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Probably that is enough information to make many readers immediately think, “Oh, yeah!” Of course, Old Man Potter represents the rich man who is crooked in his ways. Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey represents the poor man who walks in integrity.

I don’t know that the author of the original short story nor those who turned that story into a screenplay intended to flesh out this proverb, but they certainly did, nevertheless. The irony between rich and poor is presented so well in the movie because it is easy to see that Mr. Potter, who is rich in wealth, is poor in spirit. Likewise, George Bailey, who is poor in wealth is rich in spirit.

If you were writing this movie script based on your life, which character would best portray you?