Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 (NRSV)
Read Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 on biblegateway.com
Verse 22The Lord created me at the beginning
Verse 2On the heights, beside the way,
Verse 3beside the gates in front of the town,
Verse 4"To you, O people, I call,
Verse 23Ages ago I was set up,
Verse 24When there were no depths I was brought forth,
Verse 25Before the mountains had been shaped,
Verse 26when he had not yet made earth and fields,
Verse 27When he established the heavens, I was there,
Verse 28when he made firm the skies above,
Verse 29when he assigned to the sea its limit,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Verse 30then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his
Verse 31rejoicing in his inhabited world
Devotion
What a mess! It’s going to take a lot of work and smarts to get this place organized! I need a plan. Before I touch anything, I need to tidy-up my mind. Then I can straighten up this disaster area. That’s us talking when we look at our cluttered closets or examine pieces of our lives that need transformation from senselessness to saneness. But as we read Proverbs 8, that could also be God talking. These verses are a commentary on the creation account in Scripture. First wisdom, then creation. It takes wisdom to turn chaos into creation. The Lord created me (wisdom) at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. (v.22) And there is a good chance that God’s approach to chaos has been instilled in us as we unscramble any chaos in our lives.
Prayer
Awesome God, help us remember who you are as Creator and Lord and then seek your wisdom in the chaos of our lives. Amen.