March is Proverbs Month

March has 31 days in it and Proverbs has 31 chapters. My birthday is also this month (the 27th) and as a personal challenge to myself, since I hope to be growing wiser with age and not just older, I'll be reading a chapter from Proverbs daily. Wouldn't it be great if I made it a yearly practice every March. With God's help I will.

I noticed this morning that in v. 33 of chapter 1 it says that whoever listens to wisdom, "will dwell safely, and will be secure without fear of evil."

I asked the question, "How do I listen to wisdom?" I came to the conclusion that it's referring to hearing and obeying the Word of God. Let me tell you how I came to that conclusion.

The famous verse, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction" begins the section in Proverbs 1 where Wisdom is personified as a woman crying aloud in the street.

So knowledge/wisdom and fearing God are connected. Also, in Matthew 7:24-25 Jesus makes the connection with obeying Him and being wise:

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."

So, here's the flow:

Fear of God = Beginning of knowledge/wisdom

Obeying Christ = Being Wise

On the left, fearing God and obeying Christ are both said to lead to wisdom. That's why I believe they're naturally connected.

So, how do I listen to wisdom so I will dwell safely, and be secure without fear of evil? Answer: Fear the Lord by listening to His Word and obey it, which is what Wisdom is urging people to do to her in Prov. 1.