Day 2 of Pastor Chris' Paraphrase of Proverbs Devotion

Day 2  God offers wisdom to those who want it and ask for it.  But true wisdom is not for the casual seeker.  It is for those who search after it with all their heart, soaking up God's Truth like a sponge, diligently applying what they've learned.   Pastor Chris’ Paraphrase of Proverbs 2:1-8 If you listen to what I say, child, and hold on to these truths in your heart, if you pay attention to my wisdom and really want to understand, if you beg for more insight and really try to get it, if it’s as important to you as silver, like going on a treasure hunt, then you'll get to know God and be awestruck by the Lord. The Lord makes us wise; He gives truth and understanding.  He fills good people with dependable wisdom.  He protects the innocent and maintains the road to justice, keeping his dedicated, godly people safe. If you want to be wise, seek God with all your heart.  As Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Prayer "Father in Heaven, make us hungry for wisdom that we may be persistent and determined as we seek You and the wisdom You want us to have.  In Jesus name, we ask.  Amen." Read Proverbs Chapter 2
New American Standard Bible	Pastor Chris’ Paraphrase
Proverbs 2 The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security 1 My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, 2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; 3 For if you cry for discernment, [a]Lift your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will discern the fear of the Lord And discover the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. 9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; 15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; 16 To deliver you from the strange woman, From the [b]adulteress who flatters with her words; 17 That leaves the companion of her youth And forgets the covenant of her God; 18 For her house [c]sinks down to death And her tracks lead to the [d]dead; 19 None who go to her return again, Nor do they reach the paths of life. 20 So you will walk in the way of good men And keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will [e]live in the land And the blameless will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous will be uprooted from it. Footnotes: 1.            Proverbs 2:3 Lit Give 2.            Proverbs 2:16 Lit strange woman 3.            Proverbs 2:18 Lit bows down 4.            Proverbs 2:18 Lit departed spirits 5.            Proverbs 2:21 Or dwell	Proverbs 2 The Value of Wisdom 1-5 If you listen to what I say, child, and hold on to these truths in your heart, if you pay attention to my wisdom and really want to understand, if you beg for more insight and really try to get it, if it’s as important to you as silver, like going on a treasure hunt, then you'll get to know God and be awestruck by the Lord. 6-8 The Lord makes us wise; He gives truth and understanding.  He fills good people with dependable wisdom.  He protects the innocent and maintains the road to justice, keeping his dedicated, godly people safe. 9-11 All this helps you understand the right way to live, justice and equality, and all that’s good, because wisdom fills your heart and you’ll love knowing the way things really are; you will make good decisions and your understand how to be safe.   12-15 It will steer you clear of people who would hurt you, speaking their lies and corrupting the truth, who refuse to do what’s right and prefer darkness to light; they love to do evil and revel in dark perversions.  They’re always devious crooks in every way. 13-19 You won’t get hurt by some crazy woman with no morals who cheats because nothing is sacred to her; she seems so alluring, but she’ll do you in; she walks a dark, dark path.  Those who go with her never come back. Their doomed. 20-22 So stay on the right path.  Don’t wander off course, because good people will live in a good land and those who stay clean will endure.  But bad people will get kicked out and those who cheat and deceive will be torn away.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation	Pastor Chris’ Paraphrase of Proverbs (PCP) Copyright © 2018 by Chris Mullis