Daily Devotion 14 July 2020

Create a peaceful space to pause, and allow yourself to feel God’s presence alongside you, as near to you as your own breath. In following the reflection below, as a church we will draw closer to God and to one another as we grow in faith and deepen our sense of belonging to God.

Proverbs 19:20-21 ‘Wisdom from God’

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future.

Let me ask you, my friends, a question. Which is easier, to give someone advice, or to take advice from someone? I personally think to give advice is easy. The majority of people love to give free advice – whether face to face or through media.

King Solomon
a detail from 12th Century mosaic within St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice.
Are these pearls of wisdom adorning him?

My dear brothers and sisters, we all need advice and it is very essential for us to get right advice from the right person – preferable someone who is trustworthy, sensible and wise! Who is the wisest person in the Bible? Yes, King Solomon, who wrote the most of Proverbs. Consider what he says in today’s verse Proverbs 19:20. Please also note Proverb 12:15. ‘Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice’. Solomon tells us that if we are looking for advice, stay away from fools.
In 1 Kings the writer of the Israelite’s history also tells us that for all his wisdom, even Solomon didn’t get it right all the time, and his heart turned away from God, and at time he didn’t listen to God’s words to him. To be wise we need to listen and obey the advice of a wise person and discipline ourselves. The second part is the reward of it. We all want a bright future; we work hard to have respectable future. Why do we discipline our children from the beginning? We want them to be a successful adult. Wisdom comes to us because we choose to learn. This learning process is not easy, but we need to train ourselves to get advice from the wise people and I personally would love to get wisdom from anyone even from children/people younger than me.

I also want to encourage you that we need to examine the advice in the light of our circumstances and the Scripture. People can give us good advice but ultimately we need to remember Romans 8:1 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” I prefer to get advice from the Scripture first and then from the wise persons. The writer of 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living.”

Prayer:

In Psalm 119, the Psalmist writes a beautiful prayer:

I keep your law in my heart, so that I will not sin against you.
I praise you, O Lord; teach me your ways.
I will repeat aloud all the laws you have given.
I delight in following your commands  more than in having great wealth.
I study your instructions; I examine your teachings.
I take pleasure in your laws; your commands I will not forget.
Be good to me, your servant, so that I may live and obey your teachings. Amen.
(Psalm 119:11-17)

Reflection © 2020 Memona Shahbaz.
Image freely available online.

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All material within this order of worship is reproduced by permission under CCL 1226356