True Wisdom

Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.

Proverbs 3:7-8 New King James Version

Names have so much power.  People are often either ignorant of that fact or don’t put much weight into the concept.  Even though I know names hold power, I went into this Bible Study Girl thing foolishly.  Though I have a heart for Jesus, I didn’t realize just how much my study time with God’s word would be altered.  My study time has increased tenfold.  I went from minimal study to concentrated study.  At least, concentrated for me. 

My cousin requested that we have a cousin Bible study.  A time to steal away from the busyness of life to focus on God’s word.  Cool.  Although a good saint will tell you that you can never get enough of reading God’s word, I’m here to tell you that it’s a struggle for me.  It’s not that I don’t recognize that I need it.  Studying the Bible can be difficult though.  It doesn’t read like a conversation or a juicy novel.  Even though it has more drama than a soap opera, you must be able to dig through the wording to get an understanding of what’s actually happening.

So, that led me to this week’s dilemma.  I had put off completing our cousin Bible study as long as humanly possible.  It was crunch time.  The study that we chose was written by an author that I’m unfamiliar with.  I just thought the title sounded applicable to my life.  I’m used to Beth Moore Bible studies, and this was no Beth Moore study.  Beth breaks it all the way down.  This guy hands you the shovel and makes you dig it out yourself. *sigh*

I picked up my shovel and began to dig.  You might not believe this, but God arrived to give me a hand.  I got so much from reading the first four chapters of Proverbs.  Which surprised me.  I think it helped that I decided that I was going to read the chapters out loud.  I’m an extremely fast reader and tend to skim to get context and not necessarily details.  Reading aloud forces me to take in what I’m reading.

I discovered possibly my new favorite verses in this week’s study.  They cautioned me to not be wise in my own eyes.  This is a very timely reminder for me because ya’ll know that I often seek to do things my way.  But following God’s way will be health to my flesh and strength to my bones.  If I want to be truly wise and have a good quality of life, I have to surrender to God’s plan for my life.  Listen, I’m thankful that God continues to be patient with me as I dive deeper into studying His word.  There is hope for me to gain true wisdom.  #wepreach