Eating your delicacies?

Can you remember the last time you enjoyed some "delicacy"?  For some, this might be a lobster tail with some fresh vegetables, or it may be something such as the lusciousness of a creamy cheese cake cascading with fresh berries of the season.  Still others might be drawn to those delicacies of a kind we might refer to as a little exotic such as caviar, or escargot.  The last two I have never experienced, so if you find these as luscious delicacies, please don't judge me, but there is nothing really all that appealing to me in eating the eggs of a fish or the slimy little creatures I would rather play with in the garden!  Technically, a delicacy is anything which is extremely pleasing or delightful.  So, there are probably a long list of things we can label as "delicacies" for some, but not so much for others.  God refers to two "delicacies" for the soul which are to be pursued and enjoyed:  Knowledge and Wisdom.  According to our instructions today, when we enjoy these delicacies for our soul, we find our future secured and our hope on a solid rock!

Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you—and delicacies that melt in your mouth.  Likewise knowledge, and wisdom for your soul—get that and your future’s secured, your hope is on solid rock.  (Proverbs 24:13-14 MSG)

The soul is mind, will, and emotions.  Knowledge and wisdom are to influence our thoughts, our memories, the determination by which we make decisions, and the balance we maintain some sense of evenness in our "inner man". Knowledge is the stuff we need to figure stuff out - like understanding yellow and blue mixed together give you green.  In other words, knowledge is what gives us the basis to make decisions upon which we will act - but...knowledge alone will yield some pretty bad decisions because without wisdom's balance, knowledge is just not reliable.  Wisdom is often gained through experience - because we put into practice the practical knowledge we have gained. Knowledge comes by learning - study and you will gain knowledge.  Wisdom comes because we take time to glean information from all that we experience. 

God combines the two as giving us the foundation upon which our soul will find firmness and stability for the walk ahead of us.  When we consider our mind and emotions, we definitely need both firmness and stability there - for all action begins with thought and almost all emotion will direct our thoughts into a frenzy quicker than we might imagine!  Add our will into the mix and you can see how the wrong knowledge could get us into the middle of something we might not really want to face.  A secure future is important - mind established in truth, will determined to follow Jesus regardless of the cost, and emotions correctly balanced under the authority of the mind and will.  This comes by applying knowledge - allowing wisdom to be incorporated into our lives.  We cannot stop short - we need both knowledge and wisdom. The problems which arise when there is an imbalance between one or the other affect our stability - being able to maintain without changing one's position.

The advice to us is to get as much of both as we can - allowing them to deeply affect our mind, will, and emotions.  The one to provide these delicacies for our enjoyment is God himself.  The foundation we receive in taking in all God has planned for us is often not noticed until we veer from either the intake of knowledge, or the overlooking of the influence of experience in allowing wisdom to be developed.  Just sayin!

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