Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day
Someone has said that a new day is a fresh start to a wise person. You can’t take back yesterday. You may regret it or be wistful for it, but it doesn’t matter. All you have is what is ahead of you. So, every new morning is a fresh start to a wise person. You can’t take back yesterday, so don’t live back there. Think about what is ahead and ask God to give you the wisdom to take the right step. A new year, 2024, is the dawn of new opportunity. It is a new year, a new fresh start.
Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” You may be thinking, “Wow! The future is dark and it looks like everything is going south.” You can’t control the world, but you can control you to the extent that you are responsible for the decisions you make. The Bible says that the future gets brighter and brighter to those who walk in wisdom. I don’t mean things just get happier and happier as you go. It means that the more you accept light, the truth, the more light you will have, and the more you reject the light, the less light you will have.
Verse 19 is a contrast. It says, “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.” You know the feeling of getting up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and stubbing your toe because you can’t see. You are just feeling your way along and everything is confusing. That is the way the world is for so many people. They reject the light they have, so they get more darkness. It does not have to be that way. If you will accept the light that you have right now, you will be provided more light tomorrow. That way, the future gets brighter and brighter to those who walk in wisdom.
How do we do that? How do we get more wisdom than we have today? Three things I would say. First, have an eager heart. You can choose to have an eager heart. Verse 7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” This is not a matter of capacity of the mind. This is a matter of attitude of heart, an eager heart. I will never get more light if I don’t have a heart for the light I have right now. I will never get more truth unless I have an open heart to the truth that God provides for me right now. So, I need to have an eager heart. Sometimes I may hear a truth that I don’t care for, like, or understand. That‘s okay. I’ll understand more tomorrow if I will obey today. I will have more of a taste for the truth tomorrow if I will have an eager heart today.
Second, have an open mind. Verse 20 says, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.” Proverbs is using the figure of a father talking to his son and he is impressing on his son the importance of an open mind. Sometimes we think we have an open mind when the fact is that we just have a lot of space in our head where we are naïve and not open to the truth. So, I need to have an open mind to the truth. That means to be hardheaded against falsehood. The dad says, “Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.” These first few chapters in Proverbs equate wisdom with the acceptance of instruction. That means an open mind to the truth.
Finally, have straight feet. By that I just mean, don’t veer off to the left or right or be distracted by every wind of doctrine. Verse 26 says, “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” When I remove my foot from evil, I place my foot, my way, on the path of light. I may not understand everything I want to understand today, but I can understand as much as God has given me to understand today. If I will accept it today, I will have more tomorrow because the future gets brighter and brighter to those who will walk in God’s wisdom.