The Wisdom of the Prudent - Proverbs 14:8

In the book of Proverbs Solomon said, “go from the presence of a foolish man, when you perceive not in him the lips of knowledge”, and in chapter fourteen and verse eight of Proverbs Solomon said, “the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way” where we read,

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.

The verse begins, “The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way:” Solomon began with the words, “the wisdom” or “the skill, shrewdness and prudence” “of the prudent” which means “belonging to a person who is crafty, shrewd and sensible” “is to understand his way” or “is to discern, consider and perceive the person whether male or female's road, distance, journey and manner”. Solomon shared how the skill of a person who is shrewd and sensible is to discern and consider their path and journey.

The verse goes on to say, “but the folly of fools is deceit.” Solomon continued with the words, “but the folly of fools” or “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover the foolishness and silliness belonging to people who are stupid, dullards, simpletons and arrogant ones” “is deceit” which means “exists as treachery, falsehood and subtlety”. Solomon said the silliness belonging to people who are dullards and arrogant exists as treachery.

When we think through Solomon's words in this verse, we discover the value of using the skill and shrewdness provided by Jehovah God to discern and perceive the path we are traveling on. If we, however, act as simpletons and exhibit arrogance, our path will be false and treacherous to us. God wants us to “examine ourselves” (See 1 Corinthians 11:31), and when we consider our path, we should remember that He gave His Only Begotten Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Our response should be to humble ourselves before Him, repent of our sins and receive Jesus as our personal “Savior and Lord”. We should desire to be wise and “prudent”, and should we examine ourselves and find that we act foolishly and arrogantly, let us turn to Jesus who will not only forgive us, but also fashion us to be wise like Him.

Next time Solomon says, “fools make a mock at sin”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".