A man’s safety depended entirely upon his own vigilance and wisdom.”
                    –Charles A. Seltzer  (Square Deal Sanderson)

       “Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.”
                    –Proverbs 4:7 (NLT)
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          2.10 — When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
          2.11 — Discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you.  (NKJV)

Notice the word “when”.  When wisdom enters…then discretion will preserve you and understanding will keep you.  The Amplified takes a slightly different light, “For skillful and godly Wisdom shall enter into your heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant to you.”  As does the CEB, “Wisdom will enter your mind, and knowledge will fill you with delight.”  This seems to indicate that it will happen instead of “when.”
     Bob Beasley says, “For the unregenerate person, the fearsome issue of life is protection.  That is one reason he seeks earthly wealth, desires job security, eats health foods, and the like, because he fears poverty, death, sickness, loss of love, loneliness, punishment, etc.  He seeks protection in fleeting things that never really protect him.”  Such a shame it is to live life in that manner.  Thanks be to God, we have Him as our Protector; we have a new heart, one that has been regenerated and is under the guidance and care of the Holy Spirit.
     The only way wisdom can enter your heart is when you follow His ways.  There must first be a changed heart, otherwise we know that the heart is deceitful.  In the verses that follow we see “the evil man” and “the strange woman,” therefore, wisdom located in the heart/mind is a prerequisite.  Matthew Henry says that, “If we are truly wise, it will appear by our care to avoid all evil company and evil practices.”  Wisdom, then must be internalized.  It is there to provide insight, to be learned intimately, and practiced in our daily living.
     Strong gives us some insight to this term we call “wisdom.”  The word, “chokmah” also means “skill” and can refer to ability in craftsmanship.  “True wisdom involves not only intelligence but also moral integrity.  Because a sinful lifestyle is ultimately self-destructive.”  We see then that to have wisdom is to live a skillful life.  A life that follows the Word of God and that is morally upright.  We need to be righteous and follow the good path.  Trapp says that true “spiritual joy mortifies sin.”  If we live in the fullness of the Spirit, follow His lead and take godly wisdom into our hearts and minds, then it will be very hard to deceive us.  We will find that sin to the heart after God is “tasteless fooleries.” (Trapp)
     Our heart/mind must be guided by the wisdom that God provides.  Charles Bridges tells us that, “Clear knowledge floating in the head is deep ignorance.  While it only glitters in the understanding, it is dry, speculative, and barren.”  There must be a new heart; one that has the light of God to filter wisdom and knowledge properly so that discretion will come and then it will be truly pleasant to the soul.
     God’s Word gives direction and understanding to the whole of life.  “It becomes not only an external rule, but a preserving, keeping principle.” (Bridges)  Paul warns us of the devices and snares of the devil; it is only when we travel this journey with godly discretion can we uncover those traps and find rest and peace along the way.  Our walk is secure if we walk warily and not just tip-toe through the tulips of life.  Francis Taylor says that men are subject to many dangers until they get Wisdom.  He includes: danger to reputation, danger to one’s good and estates through foolishness, danger to body and life by not heeding God’s principles, and there is danger to the soul of eternal misery.  Godly wisdom and understanding will therefore, keep us from the foolishness that comes our way and the intentions of evil that is along the way.

It’s never a pleasant thing to watch a man step off into eternity unprepared for the afterlife. To stand before his Just, and Holy Creator, defiant and unrepented.”

Sometimes in life, situations are simply out of our hands, and all we can do is trust God and give him room to work without us getting in the way.”
                    –Kenneth Pratt  (Emerson Solstice)

       “…Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”

I take very seriously the preference of men with many scars.”
                    –John Deacon  (A Man Called Justice)

       “He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.”
                    –Psalm 147: 3 (NKJV)
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     I was reading the other day and within the material was the idea of “scars.”  It reminded me of one of my best friends growing up who had scars on the side of his face.  One day I asked him, “Tommy, how did you get those scars?”  Deadpanned, he replied, “While sledding, a barb-wire fence jumped out at me.”
     Everyone carries some kind of scars.  Some more pronounced, some hidden.  Many carry physical scars while others bear hidden ones.  The number varies as well.  In my book, “Winter of the Wolves,” Miles Forrest remarked, “Scars also remind me that a person cannot run from life.”  Then I thought of the words I read recently from Mike Allred, “Maybe life isn’t about avoiding the bruises.  Maybe it’s about collecting the scars to prove you showed up for it!”
     True, often scars are the result of the lack of common sense, or even sheer stupidity.  As David wrote, “My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness.” (Psalm 38:5, ESV)  Take a look in the mirror, glance at your scars, including those etched and marked on the soul.  How many came from the lack of good sense?  Perhaps we need to think like Greg S. Baker, “He studied the scars, old friends that sometimes reminded him of things best forgotten”; and hopefully lessons learned.
     Dave Roever, a man well acquainted with scars, asks a poignant question, “Can He trust you with your scars?”  That brings me back to what I was reading.  
               “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.  Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him…  Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip…the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.”  –Genesis 32:24-25, 31,32, NKJV
Not only did Jacob have a spiritual experience, but for the rest of his life he walked with a limp.  God’s touch caused pain.  (Ponder that!)  “Like Jacob, like all of us who limp along in this life, wounded within or without, we are called to be stewards of our scars.  It is a sacred duty.” (Chad Bird)
     Stewards of scars!  Imagine that; something I had never considered before.  God should be able to trust us as good stewards of anything that belongs to the Master.  Chad Bird explains, “Stewards do not own that for which they are responsible.  They are called to faithfully manage what another has given them.  God owns our scars; we steward them.”  The Vietnam veteran Dave Roever reminds us, “The scars are only temporary signs of a worldly battle.” Paul wrote, “I carry on my scarred body the marks of my owner, the Lord Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17, Phillips)
     Scars are also valuable in identification.  “Any identifying scars?” may be on a questionnaire for employment or used by law enforcement to aid in apprehending a criminal.  Scars identify battles which were fought and bonds that were forged.  As Shakespeare penned the words spoken by Henry V:
               “He that shall live this day, and see old age, will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, and say, ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian’:  then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.  And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day’….  We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother…”
     Perhaps there is more to the words preached by the Chaplain of the Senate, Peter Marshall when he said, “When we eventually reach the goal to which we are all striving, God will look us over, not for diplomas, but for scars.”  As the now deceased missionary Charles Greenaway used to say, “we’re going to make it.  We may not look like much when we enter the gates of heaven, but we’re going to make it.”
     I would be remiss if I did not mention the Man of Sorrows who caused Thomas to cry out in anguish, “My Lord and my God!”  Remember what Thomas said, “Unless I see in His hands the prints of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25, NKJV)  Scars–proof.  Scars–battle.  Scars–stewardship.  Scars–identity.  There is one stanza of Edward Shillito’s poem, “Jesus of the Scars”, I want to share:
               “The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
                    In all the universe we have no place.
               Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
                    Lord Jesus, by thy scars we know thy grace.”
     Alexander Maclaren tells us, “The wounds can all be healed, for the Good Physician has lancets and bandages, and balm and anodynes for the deadliest; but scars remain even when the gash is closed.”  Thus the question remains–“Can He trust you with your scars?”  “It is a sacred duty!”