A Layman Considers Wisdom

Consideration 4.7, Proverbs 4:18–19. 18. “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day. 19. The way of the wicked is like darkness, they do not know over what they stumble.” Did you ever wonder how righteousness works? Through Solomon God tells us the path of righteousness and the way to being righteous is the path of revelation. Have you ever risen before dawn and observed the gradual occurrence of sunrise? It is not instant noontime. There is faintness of light before the sun appears on the horizon. Details of the earthly things are vague. We perceive enough to know of the details, but our eyes cannot yet perceive them in depth. We are not sure how close they are or if they are a danger. We have enough light to be apprehensive. We have walked in darkness so long that, as a new Christian, we are apprehensive about where and how we walk. Not all objects cause us to stumble; some objects are handrails. As the light of dawn grows brighter, more detail is exposed and long shadows appear. We study the shadows because they obscure and lessen our vision of detail. Wisdom directs our attention to the shadows where we cannot make out the detail. Evil hides in the shadows and disguises itself. We see the shadows as the sun rises and we can focus attention on them. Surrounding and reflected light help to expose what is there. In like manner, righteous companions reflect light on the shadows of our lives and help us recognize evil and sin. When we see an object that is new or different, wisdom advises us to study it from a distance; observe it in the light. As the sun rises to full day, the shadows disappear and everything is exposed. Wisdom shows us the pits, the mountains, the raging rivers; and we are able to navigate the path through, around, or over what the darkness of evil would have led us into, fallen off of, or been consumed by. Everyday is a new dawn, a new sunrise. Everyday wisdom will expose more of our unrighteousness that we may repent and return to the righteous path. Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:22–23 tells us, “The Lord’s mercies indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” His mercies are indeed new every morning, every dawn, every sunrise. His mercies are available to us from the dawn, to the full day exposure to His light in our lives. We need the wisdom that comes from this exposure every morning. We need to open our hearts to His exposure of our sin so that we can enjoy His mercy.