Sometimes I wonder if we as Americans on purpose choose some of the dumbest people to lead us so that we will have someone to blame other than ourselves. But we collectively elected them! So who is the dumbest person in the room?
Down through history society has sought smart people to lead. But even more frequently a privileged few, usually either militarily strong or connected by birth or marriage to the right people, become our leaders. There must be a better way to do this.
Solomon, the writer of our reading today was just such a person. He was connected to King David by birth. The only reason he was king was because of his dad. And Solomon had something that made up for his political connections. He had wisdom and knowledge. He did not always use it, but he had it.
Wisdom is the ability to know the right thing to do at the right moment. It is the ability to choose between two good things and get the best solution in this situation. It can also result in finding hidden pitfalls even when the surface looks simple.
Solomon says that we must start with God if we want to get things right (v7). But too many people today defiantly give God the one finger salute instead. This collection of proverbs, short sayings that instruct the soul and mind, are here as a goldmine of wisdom. We could avoid many pitfalls of our modern world by heeding the wisdom in these ancient sayings.
Take verse ten as an example. If bad people try to get you to join them in their evil plans, don’t get involved. If we got this one, gang activity would end! Corporate greed would end. So many ills happen when one bad apple influences others. The eventual result of following evil people is in verse eighteen. Negative consequences will come on them!
Who have you allowed to influence you in a negative way? A friend at work or connected to some other activity in your life? The media that you consume through the internet or cable, on your phone or tablet? Someone in your home? You know that what they are proposing is not good, but you give in anyway. We have a choice to make. Will we choose wisdom or folly?
So as we work our way through Proverbs, let’s try to pick up some of that wisdom along the way. It might be some small course corrections, or a few “watch out for this” moments, but hopefully we will allow the wisdom contained here to influence us.
The Arnold Journey 