Reproof

An unloved child is an undisciplined child. Someone doesn’t care enough to help form the child’s spirit. But our heavenly Father loves us with a love that he initiates, that’s free and guaranteed. God sent Jesus to deliver you from a road of sin that would have destroyed you and separated you from God for eternity.

Scripture describes those who refuse repeated warnings as “stiff-necked.” Their pride will not allow them to “bend” to others. They will live life in their time frame and on their terms. It will seem to them, for a while at least, that they were right and everybody else was wrong.

We are all “prone to wander,” and the decision we make when confronted is multi-layered. The decision not only impacts us but those around us. When we heed instruction, we show the “path to life” for others. When we ignore reproof, we lead “others astray.” It’s a pretty big decision, isn’t it?

In today’s passage, wisdom (personified) cries out in the noisy streets and reminds all who will listen that she is willing and ready to pour out her spirit to all who will listen and respond to her correction. But to those who reject her, terror will strike them “like a storm” and calamity will sweep over them “like a whirlwind” (Proverbs 1:27).

So, for all those who “know it all,” there is still a lot of learning to do. When you desire obedience, you will love attaining knowledge even when the truth hurts and demands a change in your life.