The cinematic nature of Proverbs recurs in Proverbs 9, with Lady Wisdom seen inviting us to a wonderful banquet and Madame Whore (or Folly) also on the scene again. This chapter contains perhaps one of the most famous one-line proverbs in the whole book: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Prov 9:10) . If we wanted to sum up the whole of Proverbs, this verse would probably suffice!
Wisdom without God just doesn’t work, for God is the Creator of the universe and the Maker of everything. Our ultimate aim in life, though, should not simply be to be wise. We want to know God. Jesus said that “this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3) . That is our ultimate aim: to know God and to be like Him.
Sometimes in our modern society we think that life is very complicated. In actual fact, the Bible constantly reminds us that the choices we face are not really that complicated. We can either choose God’s ways or the devil’s. There are only two kingdoms. We are either ‘foreigners and strangers’ or ‘fellow citizens with God’s people and members of His household’ (Eph 2:19). There is no middle way.