TLIC FAMILY. PROVERBS. NOVEMBER 21: ASCENDED.

THINK TOGETHER.

Do you know Jesus?          

READ TOGETHER

Proverbs 30:1-4. ¹The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out. ²Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. ³I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. ⁴Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Proverbs chapter 30 was written by a man named Agur. Agur wanted to know what wisdom is and how to get it. He starts out by saying how weary and stupid he is. Why does he feel this way? Because he lacks wisdom. He doesn’t have knowledge of the Holy One (God). Like all the rest of the proverbs, Agur is connecting wisdom to knowing God. Remember, Solomon said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Agur is saying the same thing – I want to know God, and when I know God I will be wise, because only God sees and knows everything, even the invisible things.

In verse four Agur asks several questions. He asks, Who has ascended to Heaven and come down? Agur is saying that the only way to be wise is to go up to Heaven, meet God, become wise, and then come back down to Earth. The problem is that no one has actually done this, at least not anyone I know. Do you know anyone who has gone to Heaven and come back? Probably not. But there is someone who started in Heaven and then came to Earth. Jesus. Listen to what Jesus said to a man named Nicodemus who wanted to know who Jesus was:

John 3:13. No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

Jesus quotes Proverbs 30:4. But Jesus isn’t saying that he ascended to Heaven and came back to Earth. He’s saying that he started in Heaven and then descended to Earth. Jesus didn’t go to Heaven and meet God. Jesus IS God. When we know Jesus, we know God, and we know his wisdom. Instead of being stupid, we can be wise by knowing and trusting the one who came from Heaven to save us.

Because of Jesus we can know God, the Holy One.

With Jesus we can have heavenly wisdom by simply trusting Jesus.

DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

Just three verses after Jesus quotes Proverbs we read John 3:16. Read it together. This is the wisdom of God – believing in Jesus’ death for us on the cross.

PRAY TOGETHER

Jesus, I want to know you more and more. Help me to be wise and trust you. Amen.