Tomatoes in the Fruit Salad - Week 4
I don’t know how you relax, but at the end of a long day filled with people, planning meetings, and all kinds of preparations for this, that, and the rest, I often like to mindlessly watch something online. Thus, I sometimes find myself paging through the updates and anecdotes posted by a variety of friends and acquaintances on Facebook or Instagram. Occasionally I find myself half asleep, yet mesmerized by a chocolate engineer building life-size edible structures or marveling at the dexterity of hairdressers transforming women’s faces and ages with clever cuts and a variety of liberally applied colouring potions. Then there are the many gifted and accomplished musicians, weavers, cake decorators, flower arrangers, embroiders, carpenters, and a host of other artisans displaying their expertise online. Often my last thought before falling asleep is honest admiration, for I, who have unsuccessfully tried my hand at a project or two, am all too aware that I was born with ten thumbs.
Wisdom is similar, only this time it is to have skill in everyday living, as in being an expert in matters of life, like conduct, behaviour, and habits. Spurgeon calls wisdom the right use of knowledge. A modern-day rendition I love puts it like this: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. In other words, while we may have the knowledge, we often lack the correct application of that knowledge. Thus, in this too I am butterfingered, for life can be challenging, and as we are all too aware, making godly decisions does not come naturally to the children of man.
How wonderful then to know that God has given us this book called Proverbs – really a manual for living and learning how to behave with disciplined thoughtfulness, showing good judgment and old-fashioned common sense as we go about our daily tasks. As a collection of careful observations, these sayings aim to give the next generation a grasp of reality. Yet, there is much for seasoned men and women to ponder and probe, much for us to learn and apply!
I love how Eugene Peterson renders the first six verses of this book in the Message: These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king – written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going; a manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; to teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There’s something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn – fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women. Proverbs 1: 1 – 6
As we work through Proverbs this year, let us not forget that while Solomon may be its main contributor, this same Solomon allowed his heart to be turned away from God. This is a clear warning that we need to walk our talk and get better skilled at the practical application of the spiritual wisdom we access through Bible study and Sunday services, for wisdom is nothing without practical intelligence.
