The Proverbs Road: You Thought it Was only Romans

Last night at church I locked our keys in the car.  I thought I’d given them to Elissa, but they slid down onto the seat and were locked in.  After Bible study, we proceeded out to the car to attempt to break in (which we did very effectively). 

As we reached the slim, metal bar down into the window area to try to pull the door handle, my partner in crime (whose shall remain nameless, but whose initials are Mike Winfree) asked this question, “Is this door handle open at the bottom, or is it solid?”  If it was open, then it would be easy to slip a loop around it and pull it in order to open the door and unlock the latch.  As I pondered on that question, I realized that I had no idea whether or not the door handle was open or closed at the bottom. 

Just about everyday of my life I get in and out of those car doors.  I pull those door handles probably 100 times a week.  And, yet, I could not remember exactly how the handle was shaped.  Go figure…?  Something like a door handle is so familiar, and yet there was this element of it I could not identify.

Has that ever happened to you?  You are very familiar with something, and yet you cannot answer a simple question about it.  You are so familiar with a room that you cannot even remember the picture that hangs over near the corner.  You are so familiar with the road home that you never noticed a beautiful group of flowers that grow by right beside it. 

Not only did that familiarity gap happen to me last night with my car, it also happened to me yesterday with God’s Word.  I am teaching through a series called “Wise Guys:  The Power of Proverbs.”  In that series, we covered a major section of Proverbs 1 last night.  And…lo and behold, as I studied that passage, it stood out to me that the plan of salvation is right there in Proverbs 1:20-33.  Yes…that’s right…the Romans Road ain’t the only road in God’s Word to lead someone to Christ.

You see, Proverbs 1:20-33 is all about the call of the lady named wisdom.  And, it seems, that the only way to wisdom is in a relationship with God (Proverbs 1:7).  In addition, repeatedly in Proverbs wisdom is referred to in ways that are synonymous with Jesus Christ (see Proverbs 8:22-31 for starters).  With all this in mind, it is not a long stretch at all to say that knowing Christ is gaining the access to know wisdom.  And, knowing wisdom means that I have come to know Christ.

That brings me to my point:  IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN TAKE PROVERBS 1:20-33 AND LEAD SOMEONE TO CHRIST JUST AS EASILY AS WITH THE ROMANS ROAD).  Let me explain.

Proverbs 1:7:  Knowing Christ is where knowing wisdom really begins.  Without knowing Christ, you cannot know    God.  Without knowing God, you cannot know true, divine wisdom.

Proverbs 1:20-21:  God makes wisdom accessible and available to all who would listen. 

Proverbs 1:22:  Ignoring divine wisdom is ignoring God.  People ignore God because they think they are in a better position without Him.  They think they have more delight in their condition without God.

Proverbs 1:23-27:  Refusing to turn to God is refusing His wisdom.  Refusing His wisdom means that one day your condition will be made known and you will realize the foolishness of ignoring God’s wisdom.

Proverbs 1:28-32:  There will be a day, if you refuse to turn to Christ, that you will have no more opportunity.  In that day it will be too late.

Proverbs 1:33:  If you will turn to Christ – and wisdom – today, you can be assured of eternal security with Him.