#WISDOMSample

"Wear a Scarf" When I first moved to Chicago, I had to adjust my fashion sense. Growing up in West Virginia and living in Ohio, we didn’t encounter the death-defying cold of Lake Michigan winds. We had cold for sure, but we’re talking about a different kind of cold. The kind that gets in your bones, freezes the little hairs in your nose, and basically makes you run back into the house screaming. Maybe that’s exaggerating. In any case, I had to learn an important lesson; in this kind of cold, a scarf is essential. It isn’t about fashion; it’s about protection. The wind-whipping chill could actually damage your skin if you left it unprotected. Solomon talks to “his son” about the value of wisdom in Proverbs 2. What he says is incredibly important and it isn’t unlike the wisdom of wearing a scarf. “For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding…he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” (Proverbs 2:6-8) The best thing about wisdom is that it helps keep us out of dangerous, dark situations. God’s wisdom is a light, showing us every obstacle hidden in the dark that could trip us and cause us to fall. It’s a thick wool scarf around our necks, helping block out some of the most destructive influences of shame, self-doubt, insults, and bad choices that can plague our lives if we let them. Of course, having a scarf isn’t enough. You have to wear it. For us to make sense of how God’s wisdom protects us, we actually have to bring that wisdom into our ways of walking every day. It takes creativity sometimes to live by God’s wisdom in our daily life – it takes prayer, patience, and a lot of listening to know how to apply the nuggets of wisdom we find in Proverbs. As you read Proverbs 2, keep this image of a scarf (or sunblock, if you live in Arizona) in mind. How is God protecting you with His wisdom today? How are the teachings you find in Proverbs impacting the way you walk in your daily world?