Back in Proverbs this morning…Chapter 9. In today’s terms there are a couple of invitations to parties going out. I’m calling it a party to help you relate, ’cause that’s how God gave it to me. Think back to all the parties you have attended over your lifetime. I’m sure there have been some that you could tell the person planning it put a lot of time and effort into it and then there are the ones where you can see it was thrown together at the last minute. The party that was well-prepared for had all the best laid out for its attendees. Cute table decorations, a written invitation, good food, an inviting hostess and maybe some fun music…you enjoyed it so much you didn’t want to leave! Now think about a party that you went to where there was no preparation. It was a last minute effort and there were very little decorations, no formal invitation, the food was lacking and the hostess was scurrying around trying to get everything together because she wasn’t prepared, or she just sat back and did nothing. The hostess tried, but you could tell she tried to just get by…”put lipstick on a pig”…make things out to be better than maybe they actually were because she just wasn’t prepared.
That’s how I seen Wisdom and Folly’s invitation in Proverbs 9. Wisdom is prepared. She doesn’t just fly by the seat of her pants. She prepares a feast of meat…it’s not just bread and water…it will sustain you and keep you full long after you have left her party. Wisdom invites you to sit at her table and partake in all the goodness that comes from the Lord…abundance and life! Now Folly, she gives you that bread and water…it will satisfy you for a minute, but once you leave, you are hungry again and searching for something else to eat. Folly invites you to sit at her table, but she has nothing to offer except destruction and death, but disguised as something better. Isn’t that how the devil works, friends?
The question is…”How do we know what invitation to accept? How do we know which party is that of wisdom, life and abundance? Open up God’s Word. He will show you which table that you should pull your chair up to and which invitation you should so kindly decline. If you aren’t sure about something in your life, it can be found within the pages of His Word. Wisdom is the “hostess with the mostest”! She has everything laid out on the table for you, but if you choose not to eat, you can’t blame anyone but yourself. Feast on God’s Word. Folly (Foolishness) will only leave you empty, friend…and that’s not my kind of party!