Day 18, Year 1 Relying on Jesus as well as the Wisdom

“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered.” (Proverbs 28:26 NASB)

The word “walk” in the above verse is halak in Hebrew, which means “depart, proceed, move, live, manner of life” etc. Simply asking the Lord Jesus Christ for help might not be sufficient for one to be saved. As mentioned before, we who seek salvation from the Lord need to follow His guidance to wisely rid ourselves of all devil’s work so as to walk in His path of salvation and deliverance.

The salvation presented in the Bible is two-fold. Jesus is glad to offer salvation to believers, but we also need to desire and cooperate with His saving work. While Jesus eliminates all the works of the devil in us, we should also despise and strive to cast off the devil’s influence on us. In fact, the devil can have gained multiple footholds in new believers. In such cases, we need to follow the Lord’s guidance to eliminate, one by one, those twisted, unclean, or deceitful works of the devil. Similarly, while Jesus is willing to impart wisdom to believers, we have to be willing to receive and follow the divine wisdom to change ourselves and overcome our life’s challenges so as to experience His total deliverance truly.

Jesus will surely save people from the sea of sins. Indeed, everyone needs Jesus’ salvation. But those who are self-righteous might struggle to seek help from others, let alone seek help from Jesus. It is only by breaking free from a self-righteous mindset could we truly place our trust in Him. We would not become more foolish or ignorant, only if we believe in Jesus and act wisely according to His words and guidance. Nonetheless, believers often do not naturally or automatically increase in wisdom either. How could we receive wisdom, if we do not proactively seek her from the Lord? Therefore, it is true that Jesus offers salvation that humans cannot attain solely on our own. After all, we should strive to seek the Lord’s wisdom to experience His grace of living in His blessings and continually experiencing His salvation. So, how do we act with wisdom? It begins with obeying God and His words. We are going to discuss this more tomorrow.

Reflection questions:

1) Is there any inconsistency between being saved by Jesus and being delivered through practicing His wisdom? Why?

2) Do you think everyone who believes in Jesus needs to learn more divine wisdom? Why?