The Benefits of Wisdom

Hi friends and readers of my blog living healthy wealthy and wise!  I would like to share a chapter with you  from the book of Proverbs on the benefits of  living wisely:  

The Benefits of Wisdom

2 My child,[a] listen to what I say,
    and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
    and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
    and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
    seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord,
    and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord grants wisdom!
    From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
    He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8 He guards the paths of the just
    and protects those who are faithful to him.

9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
    and you will find the right way to go.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Wise choices will watch over you.
    Understanding will keep you safe.

12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,
    from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way
    to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong,
    and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked,
    and their ways are wrong.

16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
    from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
17 She has abandoned her husband
    and ignores the covenant she made before God.
18 Entering her house leads to death;
    it is the road to the grave.[b]
19 The man who visits her is doomed.
    He will never reach the paths of life.

20 Follow the steps of good men instead,
    and stay on the paths of the righteous.
21 For only the godly will live in the land,
    and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be removed from the land,
    and the treacherous will be uprooted.

(Proverbs 2:1-22  New International Version)

For the whole week I am following the devotional guide from Christianity today's Men of Integrity and the theme for this week is:

Follow the Way of Wisdom  Below is the introduction for the series:

"Life is a journey, and the end of it all is not just a place but also a condition. We are becoming the end of our journey, wise or foolish, and every moment takes us closer there.

"God cares about how we live our lives from day to day. The Bible is the voice of God inviting us into his eternal life. During the Old Testament era God standardized his speaking to us in three ways. The priests taught his law, the prophets declared his word, and the sages or wise men gave his counsel. Both the commands of the law and the thundering of the prophets spread out before us the gigantic truths of God that make sense of everything. But we need more. We live day by day in a world where "there are details of character small enough to escape the mesh of the law and the broadsides of the prophets, and yet decisive in personal dealings" (Derek Kidner in The Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary). So God gave us more than the law and the prophets. He also gave us wise counsel [through inspired writings like we find in Proverbs]."

Prayer:

Father of wisdom, please instruct me with your wise counsel; teach me to value your wisdom as the rich treasure that it is.

I hope that we will all seek to live our lives in the rich counsel of God and also find satisfaction and the abundance of living our lives under His constant guidance and care. I also encourage you to read the book of Proverbs to gain practical insight and understanding that we need to live our lives wisely.  Have a great week everyone and God bless!

Note: here is the link if you want to follow the series also:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/moi/2013/003/june/street-smarts.html