“Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud.”
(Proverbs 8:1-3 ESV)
Do you need wisdom?
The eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs is a beautiful piece of God’s Word. This chapter of the Bible is a poem that personifies wisdom—meaning, it portrays wisdom to us as if it were a person, specifically a woman, who is trying to get our attention.
You could spend so much time on this whole chapter of the Bible, but I want to call your attention to just one thing we learn about wisdom from this passage. Notice where wisdom “takes her stand.”
Where Wisdom Waits for You
The Bible tells us that Wisdom is “at the crossroads.” Crossroads are places of decision. At crossroads, you are presented with a choice to go one way or another. We face many crossroads in our lives both literally and figuratively. Life is full of decisions.
The Bible also tells us that Wisdom takes her stand “beside the gates in front of the town.” Town is a public place with lots of people present and lots of activity. In this public setting, wisdom calls out to all.
Wisdom is waiting for you right out there in the open, in the middle of the busy spaces in life, in the very places you most need her. She is calling out publicly to everyone, not just to a few. In other words, the wisdom you need is not out of reach. God offers it to you freely.
What Does Wisdom Offer?
Although in the poetry of Proverbs Wisdom is personified as a woman, in real life, wisdom did take on flesh and bone in the person of Jesus. First Corinthians 1:24 tells us that Jesus is the wisdom of God.
He calls out to us all, offering first what we most need—salvation from our sin. We look to him first for the wisdom we need to be saved. He tells us that though it may sound foolish, the way to be saved is to trust in him and believe that his sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection fully atones for our sins and reconciles us to God. By trusting in Jesus, we choose life now and in eternity, and by rejecting Jesus, we choose to bear God’s wrath toward our sin now and in eternity.
At the very crossroads of life and death, Wisdom takes her stand and calls out to us to choose salvation through Jesus.
How Will You Respond to Wisdom’s Call?
Once we have responded to Wisdom’s call to be reconciled to God, then we look to him for all the wisdom we need for the rest of life.
The book of James tells us that God welcomes us to seek him for wisdom in all the various troubles we will face in this life (James 1:5), and he delights to give it.
Do you look to Jesus for wisdom? The Bible says that wisdom comes from the Lord (Proverbs 2:6), and that he gives it generously to those who ask for it (James 1:5).
This one little verse in Proverbs paints a poetic picture for us, saying that Wisdom waits for us in the places we most need her—at the crossroads—if we would only give her our attention.
Will you give the Lord Jesus your attention whenever you stand at the crossroads? He’s calling out to you today, because he wants to bless you with the wisdom you so desperately need and that only he can give.