In the conclusion of his wonderful poem, The Road Not Taken,
Robert Frost wrote,
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
It seems life is a series of choices with some being seemingly inconsequential and others life-altering. The author of Proverbs confronted every individual with an inescapable choice.
1 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.
2 She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town,
4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says,
5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”
Proverbs 9:1-6 (ESV)
The source of all true wisdom is God and in this proverb “Wisdom” prepared everything and issued an open invitation to “the simple”, that is those that are naive, the unskilled, those that “lack sense”, or do not have understanding for the application of the wisdom. “Come,…” is an invitation to all that will accept it. However, the invitation calls for each person to make a choice. Verse six demands that we “leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” It is another choice to be made. If we choose to continue as before, the end of that is death. If we choose to leave the way of naivety the end of that choice is life. Then, and only then, can we walk in the way of insight. The way of insight is revealed in God’s revelation to man, the Scriptures. The choice lies before each of us.
