{"id":2419,"date":"2023-03-07T07:12:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T12:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2419"},"modified":"2023-03-07T07:12:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T12:12:56","slug":"proverbs-316","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/07\/proverbs-316\/","title":{"rendered":"Proverbs 3:16"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>.

Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at one of the \u201c3:16\u201d verses of the Bible, spotlighting some of the significant theological statements that happen to fall on the 16th<\/sup> verse of the third chapter of a number of Old and New Testament books. <\/em>
 
\u201cLong life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.\u201d
 
A lot of smart people do really dumb things. 
 
A fairly large slice of any day\u2019s headlines \u2013 what we call \u201cnews\u201d \u2013 turns out to be a recitation of the missteps, miscalculations, and mistakes of people who probably should have known better. 
  
Why do educated, knowledgeable people routinely make decisions that shipwreck their lives and reputations? 
 
The answer, according to the Old Testament book of Proverbs, is that it\u2019s quite possible to know a great deal about a lot of stuff, yet not know how to live.  Standardized methods for identifying \u201csmart people\u201d \u2013 whether IQ tests, SAT\u2019s, or ending up on the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions<\/em> \u2013 are not to be confused with measurements of spiritual and emotional health.   
 
Insightful and informed people, in other words, are not necessarily good-hearted people.
     
As psychology professor Heather Butler points out in her October 2017 article in Scientific American<\/em> (\u201cWhy Do Smart People Do Foolish Things?\u201d), \u201cThe inventory of negative life events captures different domains of life.\u201d  Or to put it another way, there are lots of different ways to look like a fool.
 
Straight-A students can forget they have to write a term paper.  People who are great at math and history can fail to get around to dieting and exercise.  Know-it-alls can run up huge debts on credit cards, decide to drive home after a few too many beers, or crash their marriages by cultivating a hidden life. 
 
Geniuses can be fascinating people.  They can also be jerks.  Knowing a lot about a lot does nothing to prevent someone from being rude, callous, unforgiving, envious, or bitter.  And that\u2019s a recipe for a disastrous life. 
 
So what\u2019s the need of the hour?
 
It\u2019s wisdom<\/em>.  The book of Proverbs has one central aim: \u201cWisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.  Though it cost all you have, get understanding\u201d (4:7).

The context of Proverbs 3:16 is an extended personification of Lady Wisdom.  She is portrayed as the ultimate teacher, mentor, and friend.  We read: \u201cBlessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.  She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.  Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.  Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.  She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed\u201d (Proverbs 3:13-18).
 
What does it mean to be wise?  Wisdom is knowing how to do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons with the right attitude.  It\u2019s essentially spiritual \u201cstreet smarts.\u201d
 
Notice in the text that wisdom, rightly pursued, yields all the things that people say they value more than anything else: riches, honor, peace, and a life worth living. 
 
Our culture has settled on the notion that education is the key to the Good Life.  The author of Proverbs wouldn\u2019t disagree \u2013 as long as we understand what kind of education we have in mind.  Wisdom isn\u2019t about getting a college degree or taking a few crash courses or experimenting with over-the-counter supplements to develop a better memory. 
 
Instead, wisdom can actually be found<\/em>.  It has a permanent address in God\u2019s Word.  If we invest in reading, pondering, and reflecting on the pages of Scripture, we\u2019ll discover that God has already passed along the insights we need to experience the lives we\u2019ve always wanted.  
 
The world says:  Be smart.  Be clever.  Be impressive<\/em>.
 
God says: Be wise<\/em>.
 
And the wonderful news is that we can make progress on that lifelong quest right now. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at one of the \u201c3:16\u201d verses of the Bible, spotlighting some of the significant theological statements that happen to fall on the 16th verse of the third chapter of a number of Old and New Testament books.  \u201cLong life is in her right… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[571,122],"class_list":["post-2419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-316-verses","tag-wisdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2422,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419\/revisions\/2422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}