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.