Living on Easy Street
LIVING ON EASY STREET
Proverbs 1:20-33
Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you — when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
"Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
NIV
There is one street that everyone wants to live on! Saint and sinner alike all strive for the day that they can live on Easy Street. That is the place that is virtually carefree. Easy Street is the place where worry and stress have no access to the residents. The place where one can live in comfort and safety and surety. Understand that it is not a mythical place and that there is only one access road that leads to easy street: the way of wisdom!
Walking the road of wisdom is sometimes a difficult path. It means denying my flesh, my desires, and even my wants because I choose to do the wise thing. It means I will lose friends who choose foolishness because it looks like fun. It means I will be considered by some to be a prude, a “stick in the mud”, a nerd, a party pooper. You see, the road of wisdom is not traveled by the masses, and perhaps that is why so few find their way to Easy Street.
Because the masses do not choose this route, the way of wisdom is sometimes difficult to find. Yet it is there! It is right in front of your eyes. Calling out to you everyday, knocking at your door in every situation. Wisdom says things like “the Surgeon General has determined that smoking cause cancer”, diets high in fat can lead to heart disease, and while it would be nice to have that car the payments would make life stressful. Wisdom says “yes, he is cute, but he has a bad temper, so STAY AWAY!”
In every situation you face wisdom will present its case. It will shout to you that there is a way to Easy Street. That way means that you don’t listen to the crowd, your emotions, or even your desires. The route to Easy Street is found when in every situation you simply ask yourself the question Andy Stanley calls “The Best Question Ever.” That question is simply this: What is the wise thing to do? Not what do I want to do, not what can I justify or rationalize doing; rather, what does wisdom tell me to do? Follow that path, and Easy Street is just ahead.
Proverbs 1:20-33
Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you — when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
"Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
NIV
There is one street that everyone wants to live on! Saint and sinner alike all strive for the day that they can live on Easy Street. That is the place that is virtually carefree. Easy Street is the place where worry and stress have no access to the residents. The place where one can live in comfort and safety and surety. Understand that it is not a mythical place and that there is only one access road that leads to easy street: the way of wisdom!
Walking the road of wisdom is sometimes a difficult path. It means denying my flesh, my desires, and even my wants because I choose to do the wise thing. It means I will lose friends who choose foolishness because it looks like fun. It means I will be considered by some to be a prude, a “stick in the mud”, a nerd, a party pooper. You see, the road of wisdom is not traveled by the masses, and perhaps that is why so few find their way to Easy Street.
Because the masses do not choose this route, the way of wisdom is sometimes difficult to find. Yet it is there! It is right in front of your eyes. Calling out to you everyday, knocking at your door in every situation. Wisdom says things like “the Surgeon General has determined that smoking cause cancer”, diets high in fat can lead to heart disease, and while it would be nice to have that car the payments would make life stressful. Wisdom says “yes, he is cute, but he has a bad temper, so STAY AWAY!”
In every situation you face wisdom will present its case. It will shout to you that there is a way to Easy Street. That way means that you don’t listen to the crowd, your emotions, or even your desires. The route to Easy Street is found when in every situation you simply ask yourself the question Andy Stanley calls “The Best Question Ever.” That question is simply this: What is the wise thing to do? Not what do I want to do, not what can I justify or rationalize doing; rather, what does wisdom tell me to do? Follow that path, and Easy Street is just ahead.
