"Wisdom calls aloud in the streets, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:"
~Proverbs 1:20-21
Before I jump into the devotion, I have a couple housekeeping items to take care of.
First, there really is no good excuse for not posting in so long. I let a crazy-hectic semester get in the way of my God-time. I apologize to you for being absent, and I make the same apology to my Heavenly Father. This summer I intend to be more diligent in my posting (which involves overall study, as well).
Second, I'm doing a study of Proverbs with a friend. So, be ready for several entries on Proverbs. I think it will be time well spent. A lot can be learned from that book. That is not to say that I won't do other devotions as well.
Third, Proverbs 1 is awesome. I love the personification of wisdom. Now, I want to focus on the introduction of wisdom, as you see quoted above. However, I encourage you to go read her speech. It will make you think.
Now, for the main event...
A little background, a lot of the Proverbs were written by King Solomon. (The last couple were written by other kings.) It is fitting that Solomon write about wisdom--he was blessed with it, after all. He asked for wisdom, when he could have asked for riches. It is important to note that the wealth followed the wisdom.
I think there is significance in the way wisdom is depicted. Wisdom is feminine--I am not a Hebrew scholar, so I can't tell you if it is simply give a feminine pronoun because the word is feminine or if the writer was specifically trying to make a point. (I don't know if Hebrew assigns gender like that either, if any of you know, I would love for you to share.) I do think it is interesting though. Especially when one considers that in that culture (which I am not an expert on) women were not the ones that led the family. They were homemakers, and expected to be quiet (particularly when in public settings, I believe). So, there is a woman yelling in a public square, on the street corners, and at the gateways. She's trying, desperately, to get people's attention. But they ignore her. They ignore Wisdom. Maybe it's because she is a woman and they believe they know better than her. Maybe it's because all the surrounding noise is drowning her out. I don't know. But I know that she is being ignored. And I know that this is true of us today.
We let the voices of this world get so loud we can't hear Wisdom calling to us. We keep going through life oblivious to our mistakes.
(Let's be honest, we're all pretty good and making ourselves look like fools.)
Sometimes we don't want to hear her because we think we know better. For me, I let the craziness of the semester get in the way of the Word--the ultimate source of Wisdom.
I would get into her speech, but it's long. And I think you should have to do some digging and wrestling yourself. I'm going to let you be a WisdomSeeker, too. So, read Proverbs 1 (and beyond). Don't hide from Wisdom, and don't ignore her. Seek her out.