Jesus in Proverbs

He is the Path

While the book of Proverbs seems to be a collection of sayings without any particular order, it really tells a story. It’s a picture of a young man starting out in life. It is a good book for anyone.

Someone may raise this objection: “But there’s nothing in it about the gospel!” Just wait a minute, look closer. The One in this book described as wisdom is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

“To know wisdom” (1:2). The word “wisdom” in the Scriptures means “the ability to use knowledge correctly.” It occurs in this book alone 37 times. Many brilliant people have knowledge, yet they lack wisdom. They don’t seem to know how to use their knowledge right.

Let me add something more here. Wisdom in the Old Testament means Jesus Christ for the believer today. “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” says 1 Corinthians 1:30. Notice that wisdom is number one. Christ is the wisdom for the believer today. And to know wisdom is to know Jesus Christ. Paul gave as his ambition in Philippians 3:10: “That I may know Him ….” Oh, that the same ambition to know Christ might grip your soul and my soul today! We need that.

Wisdom, therefore, is Christ. Wisdom is the ability to use our knowledge aright. To know Christ is not to play the fool; it is to be a wise man. I saw a bumper sticker the other day which read: “Wise men still seek Him.” Friend, you may not be brilliant, but when you receive Christ and come to know Christ, then you have wisdom. And you’re at the beginning of a wonderful path that leads closer and closer to Him, like you’re on a path that leads from the darkness to light.