New Feature: Proverb of the Day

Wow, 4 months without a post, I've been slacking. I have been spending the summer on my school capstone project, or practical final, which can be seen here. During the summer months, I have been pondering ideas for things to post daily, or semi-daily. God then gave me the idea to look at some of the verses in Proverbs, and share my insights on them. I still plan to make a larger post once every one to two weeks. So here is the first PotD:

Pro 21:11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.

One of the overlying themes in the book of Proverbs is the comparison of the simple, or fools, to the wise. Every time I read something from Proverbs, I often wondered what exactly defined a man as wise or foolish. The obvious answer aside, (trust and leaning on God) I wondered specifically about what these men looked like, and what examples pervaded the lives of each of these men.

The answer hit me recently that most verses in Proverbs really answer this question, in this case, the PotD. The scorner, coming from the Strong's Concordance word H3887, means a mocker, one who has little respect for others. When God sees fit to bring these people punishment, it makes an example that can change the hearts of men. That is a major difference between a fool and a wise man, is the attitude of their heart.

This difference in attitude is better explained in the second half of the verse, "and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge." The wise man knows that he doesn't know everything, so he is willing to accept instruction, and learn from his mistakes. The fool thinks that he knows everything and is unwilling to be corrected. I think that to some extent, we are between these two examples, wise in some areas and foolish in others. It is an essential part of the Christian life to be continually brought out of our foolishness and into wisdom by the Source of all Wisdom.

So ask God what wisdom He has for you today, and ask him to change your heart to be more like the wise man.