As time passes and you have more experiences you grow in either wisdom or folly
A lesson learned reading Proverbs 1 with my child today
Yesterday I read Proverbs 1 with one of my teens. It was challenging to wait on the teen to come up with his/her own thoughts and engage. God was teaching me to be patient, not be frustrated, and enjoy this time with my kid. When the teen finally started to share thoughts and questions we had a good conversation and I was really thankful.
Then we focused in on Proverbs 1:32:
For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
“What is apostasy?” my teen asked. I asked what other parallels the teen saw in the text. “Kill them” goes with “destroy them.” “Inexperienced” corresponds with “fools.” “Apostasy” parallels “complacency.”
We left that question and zeroed in on another: What is the difference between being inexperienced and being a fool?
To be inexperienced is to be young and to lack experiences. To be a fool may be tied to inexperience but it may also be one who has experienced many things and yet has not grown in wisdom but in folly.
To experience life doesn’t mean one grows in wisdom.
Evaluated experience builds wisdom.
Or, more accurately, rightly evaluated experience builds wisdom.
I told my teen, “You are growing up and you are gaining experiences. The question is, Are you gaining wisdom? The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge (1:7) and wisdom (9:10) according to Proverbs. Are you receiving and pursuing and deepening wisdom in the Lord day after day, experience after experience?”
That is a question we all need to ponder.
In light of of that opportunity I thanked God for the next verse, 1:33
But whoever listens to me will live securely
and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.
The alternative to apostasy and complacency is attention. Listening. Heeding. Let us attend to the words of God. Listen to them. Heed biblical and Christ-centered wisdom in every experience and day God gives you to live.
God pressed this principle onto our souls: As time passes and you have more experiences you grow in either wisdom or folly.
As time passes and you have more experiences you grow in either wisdom or folly.
May God help me, my family, and you grow in wisdom and not folly through the big and small experiences God ordains for us from day to day.
Question: What are some ways you process your experiences to grow in Christ-centered wisdom? Please leave a comment.