When early Christianity was at a crisis moment, a group of men and women left the crowded, noisy streets. They sought a place where they could detoxify from all the input of the world’s system.
Solomon saw wisdom as going to the busy street corners, the most important places of business and government, and calling out for people to listen to her wisdom.
Wisdom cries out in the street;
in the squares she raises her voice.
At the busiest corner she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks. (Proverbs 1.20-21)
Christians today will not effectively transmit God’s wisdom to this world’s system unless we first remove ourselves from the influence of the world to hear from God.
Some Suggestions
If you’re interested in getting alone with God to hear His wisdom, so you can share it with the people in your sphere of influence, there are a couple of things you can do.
One of them is to create a place that’s free of distractions where you can meet with the Lord.
Jake Taylor, the pastor of Maywood Baptist Church, often talks about solitude. He suggests that you spend time with God without your phone and other things that normally distract you.
One of the most difficult things for me to do is practice silence. Just waiting before God and quieting the chatter in my head is difficult, but it produces significant results.
I have been reading and studying the book of Isaiah for several years during my daily devotional time. The value of reading the Bible and thoroughly studying it is that it shapes our thinking about the world.
It helps combat the influences of the world system as it bombards our minds with ideas and information.
Ultimately, getting alone with God to receive His wisdom is a deeply personal and intimate journey. If you dedicate yourself and patiently connect with God daily, you will find He fills you with His wisdom.
More Key Words
When wisdom goes to the street corners and intersections of commerce, she speaks to three categories of people: the simple, the scoffers, and the fools. To better understand her message, let’s understand who these people are.
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
“Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.” (Proverbs 1.22-23)
(1) The Simple: Gullible, simple, and naive persons are the target audience of wisdom.
They are the people who can be swayed by the fools and the scoffers. Alternatively, they can receive wisdom and find the benefits by being aligned with God’s plans and purposes for their lives.
(2) Scoffers are people who not only do what is opposed to God’s will, but they also encourage others to follow their behavior.
Paul presents a list of ungodly practices in Book of Romans. At the end of his list, he describes a scoffer like this:
They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them (Romans 1.32).
(3) Fools: The Psalms aptly describe this person.
Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt; they do abominable deeds;
there is no one who does good. (Psalm 14.1)
The fool is a practical atheist. They may claim to know God, but they believe that their actions will have no accountability. Their behavior shows that they truly don’t have faith in God.
Paul turns his message to the scoffer and the fool, telling them that they’re without excuse. God’s wisdom has been plainly made known; they could have responded with gratitude and faith.
By turning away, they placed themselves under God’s judgment.
Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made. So they are without excuse (Romans 1.20).
In Romans 3, Paul picks up the images of Psalm 14 and applies them to humanity. He tells us that we have all sinned and are all short of the glory of God.
The good news is that in Romans chapter 6, we learn that the death of Jesus Christ gives everlasting life even to sinners who are worthy of judgment.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6.23).
Let’s receive God’s grace and forgiveness, but also seek the wisdom He gives to live the best life possible.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 