Proverbs 1:24

Some invitations are not take-it-or-leave-it offers! If you disregard or refuse them, you beg for the wrath of the inviting parties. If a boss invites you to a meeting or a king to a dinner, you better show up. So is God’s offer of wisdom. Lady Wisdom calls to men, and they better take her offer, or she will mock them in their calamity (Pr 1:20-33). God does not owe an answer or help to men who neglect truth or play with sin (Ps 66:18; Is 9:1-2).

Truth and wisdom are not rights: they are privileges. He offered truth and eternal life in Eden; Adam and Eve chose the devil’s lie and death. They made a terrible choice. He gave them the consequences. Most make the same choice every day – the devil’s lie and the death it brings are better than God’s truth and eternal life. Therefore, He is holy and just to hide truth from men (Amos 8:11-14; Matt 11:24-26; 13:10-17; Rom 11:7-10; etc.).

He declares truth every day and night by the heavens and life’s blessings (Ps 19:1-6; Acts 14:17). Men are without excuse, because He plainly reveals Himself to their minds (Rom 1:20). The problem is their hearts! They hate His authority and despise His laws, so they rebel to idolatry or evolution to eliminate Him. He justly blinds them and rewires their minds to abuse each other with sexual perversions (Is 44:9-20; Rom 1:21-32).

He declares truth through His inspired scriptures, the Bible, which is preached by chosen men (Ps 19:7-11; Is 8:20; II Tim 3:16-17). But men hate the Bible for the same reasons – a sovereign Creator’s authority and rules that restrain the lusts screaming within. In righteous judgment, He sends delusions to believe lies and be damned (II Thess 2:9-12).

King Ahab rejected God’s prophet Micaiah, so the LORD gave him what he wanted – a flattering lie (I Kgs 22:1-18). Then Micaiah graphically described God’s choice of a lying spirit to get him to battle to kill him (I Kgs 22:19-40). God is fair. If you value anything in your heart more than His truth, He will deceive you (Ezek 14:1-11). If you think you can survive without His wisdom, He will blind you from it and destroy you (Is 29:9-16).

Israel was offered Old Testament blessing or cursing (Deut 28:1-14; 28:15-68). And it was offered New Testament blessing or cursing (Matt 21:33-46; 22:1-7). Paul made a grand comparison of them as a warning to the Hebrews (Heb 3:7-19; 4:1-11). Beware!

How have you used today to seek the will of God for your life? Wisdom calls to you from this proverb and from the rest of the Bible. Will you invest 1% of today, which is 14 minutes and 24 seconds, to learn? If not, look out! Tomorrow may be too late. The living and true God is under no obligation to wait for you to get serious (Pr 29:1; Rev 2:21-23).