Day 49, Year 1

Wisdom Leads to Goodness and Righteousness

“So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.” (Proverbs 2:20 NKJV)

When believers choose life from God, we can overcome all difficulties including physical, mental, and environmental ones. How do believers overcome difficulties? Many people imagine they can solve all problems in the blink of an eye with God’s blessing, just like Moses parted the Red Sea or the Sea of Reeds. If this were true, perhaps the Bible would have documented the parting of the Sea at least several times. However, this is not the case.

When believers choose God’s life, He is willing to grant us His wisdom and gradually increase our wisdom, so that we can be freed from all problems and set on the path of understanding, righteousness, and goodness. In other words, sometimes we have to coexist with problems, and then resolve them step by step. Returning to today’s verse, “wisdom” in Proverbs 2:10, chokmah in Hebrew, also means “prudence, shrewdness in administration, religious affairs, ethics, skill in war” etc. Thus, wisdom not only helps God’s people to discern what is righteous or not, subsequently to fear and know Him, but also enables us to solve various problems in life, and propel us into God’s path of goodness, righteousness, and life. Furthermore, Jesus mentions that only God is good (Matthew 19:17, etc.). His wisdom guides us to “walk in the way of goodness,” leading us on His path. Wisdom is a big topic, and we will continue to explore her in the coming days. (Wisdom in the Bible always uses a feminine pronoun. This might signify that wisdom and Father God are working together to help believers all the way to heaven.)

Concerning the wisdom in the Old Testament, whatever wisdom that has no implication to handle practical matters, or is out of touch with reality, cannot be considered true biblical wisdom. In addition, any wisdom that does not lead people to righteousness and do good, including all kinds of evil wisdom that teaches people to be selfish and lead them astray, cannot be considered God’s wisdom. How do people’s behaviors change from unrighteous to righteous in God’s eyes? The answer is through His wisdom. His wisdom is for those willing to become good and upright, and she could transform us from foolishness to wisdom.

Reflection questions:

1) God wants to grant you wisdom so you can walk on the path of life. How do you feel about this?

2) How much do you want to pay for practical wisdom so as to solve various problems in life? Why?