“Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.” (Proverbs 4:10-13, NASB)

What are some things that you guard with your life? Immediate things that come to mind are our loved ones, personal identification, money, and things that we treasure. Other things may be freedom and independence, safety and health, or privacy and personal matters. However, how many of us guard wisdom like that? Here is what Solomon said in today’s passage:

“Hear, my son, and accept my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; and if you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.”

It is important to add wisdom to things that we guard with our lives. Verse 13 says, “Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.” This makes perfect sense as wisdom becomes our values, and values determine our choices, speech, relationships, and the paths we take. It shapes our worldview, life philosophy, and the kind of life we want to live. It turns into our practical know-how, go-to default responses, and a common-sense, intuitive grasp of situations. Having misguided wisdom can lead to misguided values, which in turn may cause you to make poor choices in life. Conversely, possessing sound wisdom helps cultivate positive values, guiding your life towards beneficial outcomes. More importantly, right wisdom will lead you to live a life that is pleasing to God’s eyes. In the minds of all believers, this is the greatest and supreme goal of life.

This was Solomon’s deduction: He believed that true wisdom leads to a long and fulfilling life, guiding one along an honest path, ensuring peaceful and steady growth, and preventing missteps. Another way of describing this idea is to say it has a solid foundation, with Christ himself as the cornerstone. 1 Corinthians 3:11-13 says, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.” Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (Jn.14:6). He didn’t say, “I will show you the way, the truth, and the life,” but rather he himself is those things. It implies that having a true foundation is a relationship rather than getting information.

Henry Blackaby once illustrated this point by sharing his experience of visiting a farmer who was a church member. He was given a map to find the farmer’s home, but got lost on the way because it was hard to find. However, the next time around, the farmer himself went with him and guided the way perfectly. He questioned, “What was the difference?” The difference was that the farmer was his map. Likewise, Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life, indicating that when we have a relationship with him, he himself will be our guide to these things. For this reason, many Bible teachers liken wisdom to Christ!

This leads to the question of how we should guard wisdom. Guarding wisdom is about guarding ourselves in both input and output. First, we must not let anything and everything enter our hearts and minds. We must be very picky and choose things that we will allow in. There are many worthless and useless ideas in the world, and we do not want them to mix with good ones. Even the good ones, we must be careful, as Satan comes as the angel of light and slips in evil ideas disguised as good ones. Remember, he even tried to use the Scriptures to deceive Jesus into sinning against God (Mt.4:5-6). Second, we must also be wary of what comes out of our mouths, as they reveal what is dominant in our hearts. Jesus said, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” We must guard our mouths, as they reveal what’s inside of us, and correct ourselves before it comes out. Lastly, guarding wisdom with our lives involves intentionality. It does not happen automatically. We must set guards at the gates of our five senses and be vigilant in protecting them.

• What do you think Solomon meant by guarding wisdom, as it is our life?
• How do you guard valuable things in your life, and how can it help you to guard wisdom?