Text Proverbs 3:27-35 deals with the last 3 fruits of wisdom (out of a total of 13).
1. The inclination to do good (v 27-33):
Not doing good when we can is a sin (Jas 4:17). With God’s wisdom, we will:
1. The inclination to do good (v 27-33):
Not doing good when we can is a sin (Jas 4:17). With God’s wisdom, we will:
(a) do good immediately. Verse 28 shows a person who is able to pay his debt but refuses to do so. We must return what we owe to others.
(b) not be partakers of wickedness (v 29). David sinned and his wicked plans and deeds resulted in broken families and strive, and consequences which he had to suffer. We too may have to bear with the consequences of our sins.
(c) not be quarrelsome (v 30). It is not wrong to be angry when the cause is right (Matt 5:22) and it is for the honor and glory of God.
(d) follow God, not the oppressors (v 31-33). Oppressors may seem to enjoy the fruits of their acts without being punished. But we must not follow them nor envy them because God will judge.
(b) not be partakers of wickedness (v 29). David sinned and his wicked plans and deeds resulted in broken families and strive, and consequences which he had to suffer. We too may have to bear with the consequences of our sins.
(c) not be quarrelsome (v 30). It is not wrong to be angry when the cause is right (Matt 5:22) and it is for the honor and glory of God.
(d) follow God, not the oppressors (v 31-33). Oppressors may seem to enjoy the fruits of their acts without being punished. But we must not follow them nor envy them because God will judge.
2. Grace (v 34):
Despite the scorners’ attempts to deny God, His existence and power is evident in creation. When God has revealed to us who He is and who we are, we must humbly acknowledge and receive Him as our Lord and Saviour. If we are wise, we will trust in God’s grace, not just for salvation but in our Christian life as well (Heb 12:2). The scorner, the proud, in rejecting God’s grace will not be blessed but be judged.
3. Glory (v 35):
When we die, we will have to leave everything behind us and very soon we will be forgotten. But God remembers. This is the glory that we must look forward to. The glory that God gives to us is far greater than the kind we see on this earth. Only “the wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools” (v 35).
Wisdom comes from God and only He can make us wise unto salvation. If God is not our Lord, then He is not our Saviour. If we have heard clearly that Jesus, the perfect, sinless sacrifice, has come to save us, why are some of us still so foolish to want Satan to be our father? Receive Jesus, and all these fruits can be yours. Why be left out? May God help us.
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