The Book of Proverbs.
Chapter 2
1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair - every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
Questions to Ponder: Do you understand what it means to fear the Lord? Have you been given insight so you can read the Bible and understand God's words to you? Has wisdom entered your heart? Are God's words pleasing to you? What does it mean to 'keep the path of the righteous"? According to God's rules, will your fate end in the land of the living or will you be cut off from the kingdom of heaven because you choose to follow the path of the wicked?
My Prayer: O Wise and Almighty Creator! Hear my plea! Save me from my own destruction! Let Your words enter my heart - that I may keep Your commands and find the knowledge you provide in Your Word pleasing to my soul. Teach me to obey You and walk in Your path of righteousness. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the ways of Satan. I seek Your face, O Lord. Save me from death. Help me walk in the ways of good men. Help me find salvation through Your gift of grace. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
My Prayer: O Wise and Almighty Creator! Hear my plea! Save me from my own destruction! Let Your words enter my heart - that I may keep Your commands and find the knowledge you provide in Your Word pleasing to my soul. Teach me to obey You and walk in Your path of righteousness. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the ways of Satan. I seek Your face, O Lord. Save me from death. Help me walk in the ways of good men. Help me find salvation through Your gift of grace. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.