Daily Bible Nugget #325, Proverbs 9:6

The Nugget:

Pro 9:6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

My Comment:

This is an important word of advice we all need to heed. The advice applies to all of us. It applies to parents. It applies to children. It applies to teenagers. It applies to young adults.

How we spend our time speaks directly to what our priorities are.

God, in the words of Solomon here, commands us to forsake the foolish, and live. That would seem to indicate that if we fail to forsake the foolish, we shall not live. Think about that–it is a striking thought that should wake us out of our spiritual lethargy.

Any person who does not know our Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior has failed to “forsake the foolish,” and they surely are not going “in the way of understanding.”

There is a great difference between these two ways (Matthew 7:13, 14). It should be a most fearful thing to hear from the Lord Jesus Christ, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23).

Any one who is not saved, and anyone who is not vibrantly growing and thriving in their Christian life, has not learned to forsake the foolish.

How can you tell where you stand? James tells us the Bible acts as a mirror (James 1:23-25). If we look in the Bible, if we read it regularly and carefully, we will know from the outset that we are not to love the world (1 John 2:15), for if we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us. “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:16, 17).

On the same theme, James tells us forthrightly that anyone who loves the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4).

So how does this work out in practice? Genuine Christians love the Lord, not the world. Genuine Christians live in a way, and even dress in a way (1 Timothy 2:9, 10; Proverbs 7:10; 1 Peter 3:1, 2, 3,4) that is honoring to our Lord Jesus Christ and to God, and distinctly different from the contemporary standards of surrounding society or the world. It is possible for young women to be fashionable without being revealing. Christian young ladies in particular need to be aware that wrong dress on their part can become a stumbling block, a sinful distraction, to others (Matthew 5:28, 29; 1 Cor 8:9).

And again, how does this work out in practice? Genuine Christians love the Lord, and are very careful about how they allocate their time. They “Take time to be holy, speak often with the Lord” and spend time in His Word, and as God provides the opportunity, they share their faith with those who do not know the Lord.

If these things are not abundantly manifest in your life, choose now (Joshua 24:15) to forsake the foolish, and go in the way of understanding, that you might truly live (Pr 9:6; Jn 10:10).

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 658 for Proverbs 9:6.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 701 or in Logos 5 or 6 Bible software for Proverbs 9:6.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Proverbs 9:6. Forsake. Pr 1:15. 2:12. 4:14, 15. 12:11. *Pr 13:20. +*Pr 22:3. 28:13. %Ge 38:1. +*Le 11:3. +*Le 19:17. Nu 13:30-33. 14:6-9, 38. Jsh 2:9-13. 6:25. Ru 1:16. 2:11, 12. 1 Sam 15:6. +**2 Ch 19:2. 20:37. Ps 26:4-6. 37:8. 45:10. 75:4. *Ps 101:4. +*Ps 119:115. Ho 7:11. +**Mt 15:14. Lk 22:55. Ac 2:40. 17:34. 19:19. 1 Cor 5:9. **+1 Cor 15:33. *2 Cor 6:17. Ep 2:13. 5:7, **Ep 5:11. Phil 1:13. 4:22. He 11:24-27, 31. **James 4:4. Re 18:4. the foolish. ver. Pr 9:4. Pr 1:22. 14:7. Jb 2:10. +*Ps 19:7. +*Titus 3:3. 1 P 2:15. and live. ver. Pr 9:11. Pr 4:4. 6:23. 7:2. +*Le 18:5. +**Is 55:3. +**Jn 10:10. go in the way. Pr 2:8, 20. 4:11, 18. 5:6. 8:20. **Pr 10:17. 11:19. 12:28. 15:10. 19:23. **Ps 1:1-3. 139:24. Is 26:7. Je 42:3. **Mt 7:13, +**Mt 7:14. Lk 1:79. 13:24. Ac 17:4. of understanding. ver. Pr 9:10. Pr 1:2. 2:3. 3:5, 6. *Pr 4:7. +*Pr 8:9. 19:25. Jb 28:28. +*Ps 119:99. Is 29:24.