The way of wisdom
[Proverbs 4:10-19]
If you had two choices, the path of life and the path of death, which path will you teach your children to choose to walk? Perhaps no one will ever teach a loved one to choose the path of death. I remember hearing a column from a counselor through a Korean radio broadcast a while ago. The content of that column was that many of the Korean immigrant children are living with alcohol and drugs. But the problem is that many of their parents are helpless. What should the parents do?
In Proverbs 4:10, King Solomon is saying to his son: “Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.” Now King Solomon is teaching his son the way to life. What is the way of life? It is the “the way of wisdom”. Look at verse 11: “I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths.” What is the way of wisdom that King Solomon taught his son here? It is upright paths (v. 11).
We are living in an era of honesty crisis. In this age we are living in, we are in a state of confusion that we cannot discern what is true and what is false. This cannot be but the work of Satan. Satan, the father of lies, deceives us with a lie and says the lie is truth. Therefore, Satan continues to tempt us with falsely wrapped “truths” to make us leave the path of wisdom and walk the path of the wicked, that is the way of evil men (v. 14). What should we do? Look at Proverbs 14:14-15. This is what the Bible instructs us: “Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.” We must avoid. We must not even go through the path of the wicked. The reason is because the wicked cannot sleep unless they make us stumble (v. 16). They are those who eat the bread of wickedness and drink wine of violence (v. 17). In other words, their main food is sin. Therefore, the wicked who eat sins are tempting us today to make us, the believers, to leave the path of wisdom and walk the path of the wicked. But the unfortunate reality is that we are constantly falling into the temptations of the wicked. Therefore, there are many times when we walk the path of the wicked rather than the path of the wisdom, the path of the upright, and the path of the righteous. Look at verse 19: “The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.” Isn't that true? When we fall into the Satan’s temptations and walk the path of the wicked, aren't there many times we don't know where we fall and are walking on this dark path? When I think about the reason why we are constantly falling into the Satan's temptations, I think the reason is because Satan's subtle work of lies is mixed with God's word of truth and is whispering to us as truth. Therefore, many times we have hard time distinguishing between the truth that is the word of God and the false “truth” that is Satan’s lie. So we are confused and choose the false “truth” that is Satan’s lie. I think there are many times when we find ourselves walking the path of the wicked. What should we do?
The way to distinguish between this satanic false “truth” and the truth of the true God is to meditate on the word of God's truth day and night. If we meditate on the word of God day and night, we can distinguish Satan's lie. That is why King Solomon exhorts us in verse 13: “Take hold of instruction; do not let go Guard her ….” Heavenly Father wants us to give us the supreme wisdom. And He continues to instruct us with the word of truth. We must take hold of it and don’t let it go. And we must obey that instruction. Then our steps will not be impeded and will not stumble (v. 12).
We must walk the path of wisdom. The path of wisdom is the upright path, and the upright path is the path of the righteous. Look at Proverbs 4:18 – “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” What does it mean? A wise child of God, who listens to Heavenly Father's instruction and holds firmly and keeps it without losing it, let the light of purity (Park) to shine brightly in this dark world like the sunlight that rises in the morning. It’s like the sunlight shines more and more in the daytime. It means that the light of the holiness of the wise children of God shines brighter in this dark world. As I meditated on this word, I remembered Daniel 12:3 – “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” And when we meditate on this verse in connection with Proverbs 4:10-19, I thought that we should shine the light of the gospel in this dark world. In order to do that, we must walk the path of wisdom according to Heavenly Father's instruction. We must walk the upright path and the path of the righteous. In order for us to shine the light of the gospel in this dark and sinful world, we must shine the light of uprightness and the light of righteousness. Therefore, because God uses us to bring many people back to what is righteousness, we must shine forever, like the light in the expanse, like the stars in the sky.
Now, many of our second generation Korean-American children are walking the path of sin in this dark world without listening to the wise words and instructions of their parents. The people of this dark world who sin are causing our children to stumble, leaving the upright path and the path of righteousness and walking the path of lies and the path of the wicked. What is truly serious is that our children have lost the ability to resist the temptations of the wicked. Therefore, when the people of this world tempt us, we must neither enter nor walk the path of the wicked. But our children have entered that path and are now walking the path of the wicked. What should we do? We must teach our children the wise way of life. We must instruct and guide them to walk the upright path, the path of the righteous. In doing so our children will not stumble. Rather, our children, like the stars in the sky and the light in the expanse, will become wise people who lead many people to righteousness, and they will become God's people who give glory to God. May this blessing be upon our families.