Read | Proverbs 3:1–12
My son, don’t forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commands;
for they will bring you
many days, a full life, and well-being.
Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.
Tie them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will find favor and high regard
with God and people.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding;
in all your ways know him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Don’t be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
This will be healing for your body
and strengthening for your bones.
Honor the LORD with your possessions
and with the first produce of your entire harvest;
then your barns will be completely filled,
and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Do not despise the LORD’s instruction, my son,
and do not loathe his discipline;
for the LORD disciplines the one he loves,
just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.
Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.
What might "fearing the Lord" and acting out of wisdom look like in your specific calling, workplace, or family life? List three tangible action steps for you to practice fearing the Lord in these areas.
Focus & Pray
Art is a beautiful expression of God’s gift to us and can help us imagine, visualize, and better understand Scripture. View this work of art, titled Wisdom Woman, connected to Sunday’s sermon passage.
Observe what you see in the image, from colors to composition to recognizable elements, without trying to understand what it is supposed to mean. Then read about the work, using these details to help you interpret the work of art. Ask God what he might be saying through the image, and listen for his insight in your thoughts and feelings, then take a moment to respond through prayer to what God showed you in this image.
Commentary:
In this illumination from The Saint John’s Bible, wisdom appears as a woman, reflected in a hand mirror with moon–inscribed frame and cosmic elements in the corners. Here, the image is based on a photograph of a Palestinian woman. The image was silk-screened onto the original vellum multiple times in an “unforgiving” process that gives the artist a single chance to get things right. The two-page nature of the image made the arrangement much more difficult.
In Proverbs 8, lady wisdom is presented as the personification of God’s wisdom, who by necessity preceded creation. Aside from the beautiful, wise woman, there’s another reference to the feminine in the depiction of the moon’s 28–day cycle. The paintings in the mirror’s four corners are based on images from the Hubble telescope. The “wisdom tree” stamp in the margins, based on a piece of cloth from India that was embroidered and appliquéd with mirrors, appears throughout the wisdom books in The Saint John’s Bible, a reference to women’s craft, ancient tradition, and its connection to contemporary faith.
The very presence of the female–personified embodiment of wisdom reveals a contradiction to the idea that only patriarchal structures are presented as ideal in Scripture. Here, we are reminded that God created his images male and female, and the wisdom of Scripture is available to all God’s children.
Art Source: Wisdom Woman, Donald Jackson, © 2006. The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. saintjohnsbible.org
Going Deeper
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