Listen to my instruction and be wise, do not ignore it.  Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.  Whoever finds me finds life … whoever fails to find me harms himself … (Proverbs 8:33-36).

This week’s passage, the second in our Way of Wisdom series, is also something of a preparation for our upcoming Chatham Serves Sunday.  How does meeting or getting reacquainted with Lady Wisdom help prepare us to go wisely into that good work, and the work of each and every day?

Proverbs, that book of real-world and practical guidance, personifies wisdom as a woman.  Wisdom is not a complicated mathematical equation, nor austere and forbidding words that can only be understood by a select few.  

Instead, the Wisdom Woman we meet in Proverbs is personal, down-to-earth, hands-on.  Lady Wisdom is like a grandmother who teaches you how to cook or sew or garden, like a mother who nurtures, corrects and cares for you, like other wise women in our lives who don’t merely tell you what to do, but show you how to do it, who work alongside you as you are learning to work.

This Woman is pictured as assisting God himself in the work of creation (see verses 22-31)!  

And as one who is more than willing to teach and assist us in our daily work.

But we need to pay attention – this is a woman not to be trifled with!  Lady Wisdom gladly and generously shares with those who listen, but warns those who are too busy, too proud, or too independently I-can-do-it-myself minded:  Whoever finds me finds life … whoever fails to find me harms himself … (and for the real kicker here, be sure to read the final clause in verse 36; this lady does not mince words).

What a woman Wisdom is!  So whether it’s our daily work of whatever sort, or the work we will do in serving our neighbors on Chatham Serves Sunday, let’s make sure our ears are open and our hearts inclined to her voice and her words.  May we be grateful for all that we know and can do, and may we remember that we don’t yet know, and can’t yet do, all that Wisdom wills for us.

Lord Jesus, you are the wisdom of God incarnate.  Teach me, as I enter each task of the day, to pause and listen to you.  May I not limit you to what I can know and do, as if I already am wise!  As I listen and respond to you, please establish the works of my hands for me, causing them, and me, to bear good fruit.  Amen.