Reflections From The Proverbs: VICTORY

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Proverbs Chapter Two
7. He holds victory in store for the upright, NIV

I like the way the King James Version words this verse. It reads: He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous.
The victory prize is wisdom. When I think of the word victory it takes me back to my high school days and those oh so important football games. The cheerleaders would lead the crowd to spell out V-I-C-T-O-R-Y then shout VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY! We all wanted our team to be victorious. I can still get a little caught up watching our Razorbacks. It is interesting to watch the crowds. You can easily tell the casual fans from the real fans. The real fans exhibit behaviors that tell you they really want their team to win.
All that yelling and stomping and "calling of the hogs" spurs the team on, but what really counts is the time spent on the practice fields when no one is cheering. The daily grind of going through the plays over and over. Those players want that prize of victory bad enough to work for it.

I feel certain that everyone wants to be victorious when it comes to attaining wisdom. We all admire those whom we consider to be wise. We all want the benefits that wisdom brings. Everyone wants to cross that end zone and claim the prize. The question is how bad do we want it? Are we like the players investing the practice time, or are we like the casual fans more worried about the traffic jams than who wins the game? Do we sometimes settle for mediocre lives instead of powerful lives because we don’t want it bad enough. Or do we miss out on exciting challenges because the discipline involved in attaining true wisdom seems too great.

God is so awesome. Not only does He hold the prize in His hand waiting for us to come claim it, He gives us a robe of righteousness that makes us worthy to claim it.
Paul says in Romans Chapter 3 :21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Because of my faith in Him, Jesus traded His righteousness for my sinfulness. Then all my sinfulness perished on the cross. He will lead me and empower me through the grind of life. Every now and then I know that I have passed into the end zone and I am given a little portion of sound wisdom.
It is a process, and sometimes I am more yielded to His leadership and power than at others. It is an amazing process. As I gain bits of wisdom, I am drawn closer to this wonderful redeemer. And as I draw closer to Him, I gain more bits of wisdom.
I pray that God will help us all become avid fans of the God and me (or God and you) team. I pray that he will help us all yearn for victory and strive for the prize of sound wisdom.