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Embrace her and she will honor you.

Embrace means to hold onto or clasp to. If you “embrace”, “hold” or “clasp” something anyone watching you will know that you believe that which you are “grasping” is VERY important.

Therefore, you clasp or hold onto wisdom is to say wisdom is important. Simple right? Well, typically, when you hold something dear to you as if it is important – you do so because in some way, either directly or indirectly, you are receiving a return. This return makes that effort to grasp “worth it”. The scripture here tells us that if we hold wisdom tightly, it will honor you.

So, how does “Wisdom honor you”? Because you are grasping and holding onto wisdom you naturally become close to that which you hold to.

I think of a woman who just got engaged. She has this ring that she grasps, and clings to. She spends A LOT of her time just gaping at the ring. She cherishes it and savors it and studies it. She may even have a photographic memory of the ring. She could probably explain every detail and flaw of the ring. She loves the ring so much, because it reminders her of a man’s unending love, devotion and promise to her. He is pledging his allegiance to her for life. Now, what is the return she gets? Reassurance when the man is not there; that he cares for her and want to spend the rest of his life with her and only her, until death do them part. That is honor.

I think of a Man, who clings to his children (notice I said “Man” not child – implying maturity and strength). He loves and cherishes his children. To the point he can pretty much relay every fine detail of his children. Not one iota of that child is unknown. When that child looks a certain way or speaks a certain way, the daddy can and does know exactly what his little girl or son needs. He savors his relationship with his child to the point that NOTHING will stop his love. He is reassured of God’s love for him, in his love for his child. That is honor.

Remember, we said that wisdom comes from God? Well, if you embrace wisdom you are saying the grace that God has given you is important (honor) and you do not want to lose it to the point where you even overprotect it. You are saying, as you cling to that wisdom, savoring it and have it hidden deep in your mind and heart, memorized – you are remember God’s unending love for you. His allegiance to His child (you) and you are reassured that He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you.

Those who don’t cling, grasp, embrace wisdom – forget God’s Grace. When we don’t hold to God’s wisdom, we forget ALL that He did and is currently doing for us. That is why I think Jerry Bridges hit it home in his book “The Disciplines of Grace” where he says:

“…the gospel is for believers also, and we must pursue holiness…we must firmly grasp what the gosel is and what it means in practical terms to preach it to ourselves every day.”

What does this mean? Jerry Bridges continues:

“To preach the Gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. It means that you appropriate, again by faith, the fact that Jesus fully satisfied the law o f God that He is your propitiation and that God’s holy wrath is no longer directed toward you. “

I will leave you with the follow verse that helps us remember the Gospel – I challenge you to stop and read this text – think about it every day for seven days. Then on Sunday, go to Church and thank God for the Gospel

Titus 3:3-7

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Next week, I will begin correlating our relationship with wisdom to our relationship with our wife or our future wife. I find it very interesting, Wisdom is personified as a “Her”. This got me thinking, how and why is wisdom personified as a “her”. Something intangible is made tangible – and this got me thinking. I went back through this verse replacing wisdom with a “her” and that “her” is my wife, “Rachel”. I challenge you to think of your wives while walking through these verses, this week.

Grace & Peace, You Are Loved,

Judson