Prov 9:9a    Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still

      

              

Sometimes in Scripture there are very simple but very profound statements made. This is one of them. You might think it looks too obvious, Surely if you instruct anyone they will be wiser? Well no, because as the previous two verses suggest, there are some people who, if you instruct them, simply react badly. That is the power of today's verse; it actually directs us to examine the person receiving instruction and see what they are like.

 

Or to be more personal, it prods us to look at ourselves and ask what we are like when it comes to instruction. Please note that word. To ‘Instruct' in the Biblical sense means to direct to Biblical truth. In the Bible, a wise person is one who has learned to accept God's directions for life. God has designed us to ‘work' in a particular way, and the wise person has learnt that way. Fools or mockers, that the proverbs also speak about, don't accept that way, and decree their own ways of living that are foolish and destructive. Thus if you try to guide a fool into the truth of God's ways you will only get rejection and abuse. It is only the person, therefore, who has already received God's truth, who will be open to receive more of it.

 

The question we are left with, is how open to God and His truth am I? Am I a ‘wise' person? Have I accepted the truth that God's way is the best way, and am I open to learn more and more of that way. Put another way, have I an open and teachable spirit?