4th January

The purpose of the book is to enable you ‘to steer your course rightly’ (v.5, AMP). Wisdom is the ‘art of steering’ through the battles and blessings of life, and living skilfully in whatever conditions you find yourself. ‘Wisdom’, as Joyce Meyer says, ‘is choosing to do now what you will be happy with later on’.

Wisdom starts with the ‘fear of the Lord’, which ‘is the beginning of knowledge’ (v.7a). The ‘fear’ of the Lord can be translated ‘reverence’. It means to respect and honour the Lord as God. The most important lesson you can learn about life is to ‘start with God’ (v.7a, MSG).

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
    but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.

Jesus faced three powerful temptations:

• Instant gratification (economic)
  There are some things that provide instant gratification but leave you feeling hollow afterwards.
  
  Jesus had prepared by fasting for forty days and forty nights. ‘That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the devil took advantage of in the first test’ (vv.2b–3a, MSG). He says to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread’ (v.3b).
  
  Jesus answers, ‘It is written: “People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”’ (v.4). Although ‘bread’ is necessary it is not enough on its own. Material things can never fully satisfy.
  
  There is a deeper spiritual hunger that can only be satisfied by ‘every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (v.4). We need regular spiritual food even more than regular physical food.

• Attention seeking (religious)
  Next, the devil puts before Jesus the challenge to throw himself off the highest point of the temple. Among other things, this is a temptation to do something dramatic (though not productive) to attract attention.
  
  The devil goaded Jesus by quoting Psalm 91, but it is a verse taken out of context. Jesus countered with a verse that is in context: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’ (v.7).

• Wrong means (political)
  Third, the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and offers them, ‘if you will bow down and worship me’ (Matthew 4:8–9). This is the temptation to be dissatisfied with God himself and to embark on a programme of unscrupulous manipulation to achieve his ends by the wrong means. Jesus responds: ‘Away from me, Satan!’ He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’ (v.10).