March 23, 2025 | Wisdom's Dawn | Proverbs Part 6

Wisdom's Dawn | Proverbs Part 6

Proverbs 4:1–19

Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
for I give you good precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
    tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”


Hear, my son, and accept my words,
    that the years of your life may be many.
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
    and if you run, you will not stumble.
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
    guard her, for she is your life.
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
For they eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
    they do not know over what they stumble. (ESV)

In Wisdom’s Dawn, Jed Gillis walks through Proverbs 4:1–19, unpacking the call to pursue wisdom not out of fear but out of joy. God’s instruction isn’t just “don’t do that or it’ll end badly.” Instead, Proverbs invites us into a life that is both protected and flourishing—a life where wisdom is a treasure worth pursuing at all costs. Gillis highlights that wisdom is not merely about avoiding destruction but embracing life with God, in a community shaped by generations of faithful pursuit.

Drawing from Solomon’s recounting of his father’s instruction, Gillis emphasizes the value of passing down a love for wisdom, not just knowledge. He presses the listener to see wisdom as a path, not a one-time decision, and challenges us to avoid even a single step onto the path of foolishness, warning of its addictive and destructive pull. Yet, the message isn’t just caution—it’s hope. The path of the righteous, like dawn, begins with a flicker and grows ever brighter. Even if you feel stuck or in deep darkness, the call is to take just one step toward Jesus, trusting that He is the light that will shine brighter and brighter until full day.

Transcript of Wisdom's Dawn | Proverbs Part 6

The Enticement and Warning of God's Instruction

Jed Gillis: Proverbs chapter four. How many times have you heard instruction in your life that boils down to something like this? Don't do that, because if you do, it will end horribly. That's what a lot of our instruction is. I find myself as a parent, I find myself giving that form of instruction often.

I think most of the time, at least your average person who looks at God's word thinks that's what the instruction is like. Don't do that, or it will end very, very badly.

Now that's there. There is instruction like that in God's word, but one of the things that we've seen in Proverbs and we're going to keep seeing is that the weight of what God says in Proverbs, the emphasis, especially in this first nine chapters of introduction, the weight of it lands probably more often, at least as often on saying, if you do this, it will be wonderful.

That's a different kind of instruction. If I tell you, don't do that because it will end horribly, you might have fear that drives you, and that can be good. Fear's not a terrible thing. We want our kids to be afraid of running out in the middle of a busy street. We want to recognize, oh, there's a danger. Sure. But we don't just need that as we go through Proverbs, we are not supposed to be primarily motivated to live a wise life out of fear of what will happen if we don't.

Instead, like we looked at last week. The author of Proverbs entices you over and over and over because we need to know that pride goes before a fall. He says that. But we also need to know that a life of humility gives incredible joy. We need both of those pieces. We need to know that sexual immorality leads to problems, but we also know need to know that God-given sexuality is wonderful. The book of Proverbs gives you both.

We need to know that unforgiven sinners face judgment, but we need to know probably even more. We need to know that life with God is so much better than just avoiding judgment.

Reading Proverbs 4

Jed Gillis: And so we get things like we looked at last week, like continues in Proverbs chapter four, where the teacher says, hear, oh, sons of Father's instruction and be attentive that you may gain insight for I give you good precepts. Do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, let your heart hold fast my words. Keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom, get insight. Do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you. Love her and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this. Get wisdom and whatever you get, get insight.

Prize her highly and she will exalt you. She will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland. She will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

God's Wisdom is Wonderful

Jed Gillis: We'll continue in a minute, but you see how he's drawing you to say, this is wonderful. Of course, Proverbs says, chase after folly and bad things happen.

But that's not where most of this introduction lands. It lands at. This is incredible. You want honor, you want joy, you want protection. You want all of these things. You want a crown, a garland. You want all of this beautiful imagery. That's what wisdom offers.

Solomon's Family History of Following God's Wisdom

Jed Gillis: And it's interesting because here more than anywhere else that I'm aware of in Proverbs. We're drawn into more of the personal experience. If you notice verse three, he says, when I was young, this is what my dad told me. That, in other words, this is Solomon. Whether or not he wrote this exact chapter, maybe, maybe not, but the teacher is saying, Hey, grandpa used to say this.

That's what he's inviting these people. As we've said, Proverbs is like character instruction for young royal princes. That's what it was intended for. So it's like Solomon looking at his son and saying, Hey, grandpa David, you know him? Grandpa David told me this. Used to say it all the time.

In other words, he's not just saying, look, you whipper snapper. I know best. Listen to me. Here you go. He's inviting him into what is really a community, a tradition, if you will, of wisdom. He's saying, I learned this, and he doesn't go into it. But by implication, where did David learn it? Where you could back up and say, probably Jesse and Obed, boaz and we have those stories, some of them.

A Community of Wisdom

Jed Gillis: He invites as he comes into this section of Proverbs. He says, listen, I am not making this up on my own right now. I'm inviting you into a community of wisdom that the listener in this text, that's all of us. Now, the listener is not just invited to one teacher's ideas. They're also not just invited to one generation's ideas.

They're invited to walk in a community of wisdom. There's huge value in not only different generations like we have sitting in this room now, but the generations that came before that. Who are no longer with us. There's huge value in these things. You say, well, I don't, I don't agree with everything that I read from some of those past generations.

Well, me neither, but as Ray Orland, one of the guys who wrote a commentary that I, I've looked at for Proverbs, he said this, we don't have to imitate their style, but we would be fools not to imitate their faith because their faith led them all the way to life. You can look back and you can say, oh, I wouldn't do it like my great-granddad did, or my great great-granddad, or this puritan writer from the 17 hundreds. You could say there's some of those things. I wouldn't do it like them, but for those who have faithfully walked according to God's wisdom all the way to eternal life, we'd be fools to not imitate their faith. Even where we might disagree with their style on a point here and there, we're invited into this community.

Inspiring a Love of Wisdom in Those we Influence

Jed Gillis: And notice what he says when he tells the listener, my father taught me verse four, what did his father tell him? Let your heart hold fast. To my words, keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom. Get insight. In other words, he doesn't tell him, here's the nuts and bolts of how you live each day. The most important thing he wanted to pass on and think about this, especially if you have kids or grandkids and you think, what do I want to pass on? The most important thing he wanted to pass on is you should pursue wisdom, not the content of wisdom necessarily, although there's some of that. But you should love it. You should want it.

We talk about this in, in an educational world sometimes. What's the most important thing I want my kids to learn in school? It's not grammar or trigonometry, really. I want them to love to learn. I want them to want to know and learn.

That's exactly what he points to. He says, you are invited to this community of wisdom which has been pursuing God. And what he wants to push to his listener so much is get wisdom.

Notice these different words he uses. Hold fast. Guard,. Keep. Pursue. Acquire or buy wisdom.

He's passing on. And in the spirit of what he's saying, you could go back, you could read one of the early, early figures in the Reformation. So 500 plus years ago, he had a man named Erasmus and he said, the most important thing about passing on wisdom is to pass on the desire, the passion, and the pursuit of wisdom.

We're invited into a community that has been doing this for millennia.

What if I Don't Have Godly Examples?

Jed Gillis: Now, maybe you think that sounds great, but I don't have a tradition of wisdom in my family. Maybe you sit here and say, my, my parents never followed Godly wisdom. My grandparents never followed Godly wisdom. I'm breaking new ground. Maybe you feel like that.

One of the beauties of the way God has designed his work in this world though is that he could say in, in Mark 10, he'd say, if you leave house or brothers or sisters, or mother or father or children or lands for his sake and for the gospel, you'll receive a hundred fold now in this time and in the age to come, eternal life.

Maybe you don't have a biological connection to a community of wisdom. But God's given you his church. God's given you fathers and mothers who have walked that you can walk with them. Paul called Timothy, my true child in the faith.

The New Testament over and over says, we're, we're family. We're brothers and sisters together. If you feel like there's no community, no tradition of wisdom in my family for me to follow, there's plenty in God's family. And he invites you, just like this speaker, invites the listener come and learn, that's one of the beautiful things about the church, just by what it is.

It. I love the fact that in this room we have some very, very young people and some not so very young people. That's what the church is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a mix of generations, a community that's pursuing wisdom in different stages, and we all need each other. We need to interact like that.

So kids and teens in this room, you are not the first people to figure out wisdom. You're not, and you're sitting in a room full of people who have pursued Godly wisdom. That's one reason we're having youth Sunday next week. Is because if you're 80, you need to be encouraged by the youth on stage, and they need to be encouraged by looking at the faces of people who are out here who have walked according to this wisdom.

And, the 80 year olds don't need to do it exactly like the eight year olds and the other way around, but we can all say the best thing for you to do is to pursue the wisdom God gives. Pursue wisdom in his word.

Let's talk about how wisdom plays out in Jesus Christ. We're invited into this community to do this together. Church is supposed to be that, and I'm grateful for those relationships that happen in our body.

You're Invited into One of Two Communities: Godly or Worldly Wisdom

Jed Gillis: And really every day you're invited to one of two communities of wisdom. You're invited to a community of godly wisdom or a community of worldly wisdom.

Every day you face, just go watch ads. You find the wisdom that says, if you really want to live, you really want to have life you need to be young, thin, tanned, attractive, rich, and clever. Which I would ask, how's that working for you? And even the people who get it right now, how much does it cost to pursue that?

Sometimes we, we get it a little mixed up and we think the Bible teaches that pursuing the path of wisdom costs me a lot. Well, that's true actually. Well, we miss is the other part. Pursuing the passive worldliness also cost me everything.

Both paths, either community you choose. Do I join a community of godly wisdom and pursue that, or do I join a community of worldly wisdom and pursue that either one costs you everything. The question isn't how much does it cost? The question is, which one gets you what you want at the end?

If God's wisdom gives you grace and life and the world's wisdom leads you to emptiness and death. If the world's wisdom leaves you striving and rushing around trying to find peace and rest in your life, and God's wisdom in Jesus Christ, on the cross gives you peace that you can say being justified, I have peace with God through Jesus Christ, because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. They both cost. Which one is where you want to end up.

And for 2000 years, we have a community of wisdom of people who have said, I'm gonna risk everything I'll take, it'll cost everything, but I put everything on following Jesus. And for 2000 years you have testimonies of a community of people who have said, and it's worth it. That's the community you're invited to.

Do Whatever It Takes to Marry Wisdom

Jed Gillis: So then he continues in verse five through nine. I don't think we get the picture very clearly from, from what's here, because it sounds like a, a goods exchange come by wisdom, like, I've got a stockpile of it. Just come buy it. And there you have it. But wisdom here is, is personified. Notice the language and it's personified as a woman to teenage boys.

He says, get wisdom, get insight. Verse six, don't forsake her. She will keep you. Love her. She will guard you down to verse eight. Prize her highly and she will exalt you. She will honor you if you embrace her. Now, if I use those terms and I say there's going to be a woman in this world who I'm going to not forsake love, prize highly and embrace. I hope you all know who I'm talking about. That's my wife.

That's the picture he's giving you. He's saying like in, in old marriages, they would pay a dowry price for a bride, and they would come and say, okay, here's, here's what I'm gonna pay the father and then I'll take my bride. He's telling you marry wisdom no matter what it costs to get it.

In fact, when it says embrace it is the word for embrace. This is not like awkward side hug, kind of embrace it's caressing, embrace. That's the picture.

Jed Gillis: Come marry wisdom, pay whatever it takes, and wisdom will protect and honor her lover. That's the picture he is putting before these young teen boys. They get it.

If You Run, You Won't Stumble

Jed Gillis: So he invites you to a community of wisdom and he says, pay whatever it takes to be so committed to wisdom that it's like you're married to it.

Then he continues in verse 10, hear my son and accept my words that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom. I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered. And if you run, you will not stumble. I want you to focus on that phrase. If you run, you won't stumble.

Now there's, there's two ways that could work. That could be I'm running on a path that has uneven footing and I could trip up. In other words, he could be saying, you could walk this path, but to run it is more dangerous. Or, I remember one time I had a crazy idea in my head that I was going to try and speed up my mile time and I set a goal I was never gonna reach, but I started trying to run faster and faster and faster. And I remember, and I wasn't very fast for the record, but I remember one time I was running and it was a little bit downhill and I start running and I'm running faster than I normally do. And I remember actually thinking. This is completely flat ground, and I still don't feel like I'm safe. Like I feel like I could fall over.

If you run fast enough, even on flat ground, you run faster than you've trained. You might stumble. You might not feel very safe. Now with that in mind, think about what he's telling the listener. He's saying, I want you. To run the fastest, best race you can run.

Again, he's not telling him if you pursue foolishness, you're gonna fall flat on your face and bust your face open and all that. He's not telling him that right here. That's true.

But he's telling him no, if you really wanna run, you want your life to really flourish. I've taught you about wisdom. The way you run with confidence is to be trained in wisdom, to know, in other words, the, the straight path, the narrow path, the wise path. It's not restrictive, it's liberating. He says, run this path. 'cause if you do, you can flourish in life. So keep hold of instruction.

Wisdom is a Path, Not a Door

Jed Gillis: Verse 13. Do not let go guard her for she is your life. Keep hold of it. He tells you this because wisdom is not a once for all proposition. I think sometimes we approach wisdom like this. Like if I had three doors up here behind me and I were to tell you, all right, I'm gonna give you some wisdom about which door is which, but one of these doors lead you to incredible treasure and there's a hungry tiger behind the other two.

You say, okay, I care. I wanna know which one. But I think sometimes we approach wisdom like it's something like that. It's a one-time decision. Okay, yes. I hope this is right. I open the world. Oh, I have it. Good.

That's not the picture. Proverbs gives you. Wisdom is not all a once for all. I made a decision. I've got wisdom. Oh, now I'm wise.

How do we know that from Proverbs? Well, are you familiar with the story of Solomon? He was very wise. And then not so much, and we know that. So he tells you, keep hold of instruction. Keep this guard her for she is your life. It's like wisdom is more like a path than a door.

That's why he uses this picture over and over the way of wisdom, the way of righteousness, the steps of your feet. It's like a path. Yes, you can start down the right path and you can take a step, but then you have to keep walking down the right path. You keep stepping.

I'm glad it's that way because in my door illustration, can you imagine if the decisions you faced in life were like that?

Here's 400 options. One of them will lead you to flourishing, and the other 399 will destroy you forever. None of us would do anything. We never opened doors with that kind of stakes.

No, but it's a path, which means you say, thy word is a lamp into my feet. God guide me on the next step of this path. And you take a step and sometimes you realize, Ooh, that was the wrong step. Then you go the right way. Wisdom is a path.

Guard instruction. It's not a one-time decision. It's a decision followed by discipline and training that keeps you moving in that direction. And if you say, oh, discipline, that sounded like a not so fun word, right?

But if you want to run a four minute mile, you'd better train. And if you put me on a treadmill running at a four minute mile, I will fall flat on my face. Because I have not trained for that and I can't.

Wisdom is taking a step down the path of wisdom and then continuing to step and continuing to step and training. And what this book holds in front of you is you can run and flourish, not just you can avoid really bad places, although that's true. But he invites you to relationships that don't just not crash, but are actually life giving. He invites you to something good

Avoid the Path of the Wicked

Jed Gillis: Then verse 14 and 15, he gives you the opposite path. Don't enter the path of the wicked. Do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it. Do not go on it. Turn away from it and pass on.

In this picture, we've got the two paths and I think we always want to, we want to have a couple different options. We either wanna say, yes, there's a wise path. Yes, there's a foolish path, but I'd like a third one.

Like if you could just gimme a path where I can rule my life just enough for me to be happy, but not so much that I ruin it. That'd be great. Well, scripture doesn't hold that one in front of you.

We might say this, here's the path of wisdom. Here's the path of foolishness. And we say, well, I know the path of wisdom is safer in the long run, but the path of foolishness would be a lot more fun. That's not the way he paints this picture either.

He tells you, avoid the path of foolishness. Don't even go down it a little bit.

I want you to ask yourself a question. I want you to be honest with yourself. You're the only one listening, so you're the only one you can be honest with. Where in your life do you think, I know this isn't right. I know this isn't wise, but I'm gonna just take a little step that direction. I'm not gonna go all the way down that road. I know that I'm not doing that. Where do you think I'll take just a little, little step.

Like I know it's not wise to be self-righteous and defensive, but maybe just a little bit. Or, I know the path of wisdom isn't really about self pity or selfishness. It's just been really bad, so I'm gonna do a little bit of self pity. Or I'm not going to walk all the way down the path of immorality, but maybe I'll just hang out and look down the path a little bit.

This text tells you don't even enter the path of foolishness. Not one step.

Hate Temptation Immediately

Jed Gillis: If I go back to our community of wisdom again, same guy Erasmus 500 years ago said, hate temptation immediately. That's part of our problem, right? I'll stand in the pathway and I don't hate the temptation yet. I'm kind of enjoying it a little bit, and then, oh, but that's foolishness. I'm gonna go this way.

Hate temptation, immediately. You find yourself on a path of foolishness. This is wrong. Turn from it. Don't take one step down there. All right, pastor Jed, that sounds really legalistic. Can you just stop, stop with that? Okay.

No, I, I'm not talking about something like this. I'm not saying, you know, there are sinful, foolish things on television. I hope that's not news to anybody. I'm not saying, you know, there's sinful, foolish things on television, so don't take any steps down the path of foolishness by saying, I should never watch any TV at all, and no one else should either.

That would be one way to avoid the path, and you can decide that that's fine, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the reasoning that says, I know this show and what I'm engaging with on television. I know it's sinful. I know it's foolish, but it's better than all the other shows. So I'm gonna take three steps down this pathway, and I just won't get all the way to the end. That's what I'm talking about.

It's not legalistic to say you shouldn't even take one choice in the path of sin. That's not legalism, and that's what this path drives you to. Why? Why does he say that? Verse 16. For the people on this path of evil, they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong. They are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.

The Destructive Community of Addiction

Jed Gillis: Let me restate that. Little steps lead you to addiction. That's what he means. They can't sleep. They are so addicted to harming people. They can't do normal good patterns of life like sleep without this thing. That's what we would mean by addiction. People in this path are so addicted to harming others.

So if you decide, I'm gonna walk down the path of foolishness, guess who's walking it with you?

Remember we started, there's a community of wisdom. The people walking that with you are the ones who say, Jesus is all I have, and he's worth it. The people who walk the path of foolishness with you are the people who say, I can't go to sleep unless I hurt this guy. Which path would you rather walk on?

He continues to say they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. I. Their satisfaction of people walking this path, what they just are satisfied with, what becomes part of them, like their food is violence and wickedness.

Scripture says things like sin is slavery. That's what he's pointing to. He says, don't take one step down this because you're bowing to the wrong master who will hurt you. Sin is slavery.

One of the commentators I read said this, behind every temptation, even the smallest steps of temptation, behind every temptation lurks overwhelming compulsive addictive destruction. That's right. Behind every temptation lurks overwhelming compulsive addictive destruction.

We often think about the addictive power of certain things, like drugs, for example. But selfishness is just as addictive and has destroyed way more lives. Behind every temptation, even the smallest one, is destruction.

I told you both sides are in Proverbs. He does tell you if you go this way, it will end badly. Yes. But he also tells you, and if you go this way, it's life. Both of those are important.

The Results of the Wicked Path

Jed Gillis: He gets to verse 18 and 19 and he tells you the result. I'm gonna start with 19 'cause I'd rather end with the path of the righteous.

It's a little more encouraging.

The Wicked are Blinded to What Makes Them Stumble

Jed Gillis: Verse 19. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness. They do not know over what they stumble.

I was thinking about that phrase. If you knew exactly what was causing the stumbling in your life. You'd probably stop it wouldn't you? Probably would.

But the sad part is that blinded, addicted sinners don't even realize what's messing up their life. They don't know what they stumble over.

Sometimes, we'll, you'll run into this. If you're talking with someone and you're trying to help them and disciple them and counsel them, and you'll say, okay, this is something good to do. You should do it. And they'll say, oh, that's not my problem, because they don't see what they're stumbling over.

In your life, God often, not always, often, God may not point his finger at the one thing that's causing all your stumbling and say, fix that. He may come and say, do you love me and my word? You say, that's not gonna solve all my problems. That's because it's really easy to be walking in deep darkness and not know what you're tripping over.

If you feel like you're tripping up in your life, at least sit with God and ask this question, what am I stumbling over? Just ask him. God wants to tell you that. What am I stumbling over? What is keeping me in darkness?

There've been times I, I thought of a couple different experiences in my life where. I was trying to fight sin in a particular area and I was struggling and it wasn't happening. Like what do I keep tripping over?

And I remember one time doesn't have to be this exactly. I remember one time somebody said, you should start memorizing scripture. I'm like, what's that gonna do for me? That's not my problem.

Guess which words I ate later?

Because I was in darkness and stumbling over something and I didn't know what it was. But I said, okay, it. It is good to hide your word in my heart. I'm not gonna lean to my own understanding. I don't see how that fixes my problem, but I'm gonna try. To pursue what I know is right. I'm not gonna walk down this path. I'm gonna go to this path of wisdom and I'm gonna take some steps over here.

And I couldn't draw a straight line for you. How did memorizing scripture transform this part of my life? I can't draw that line. That's okay. God can.

There is Hope

Jed Gillis: Those who walk in deep darkness don't know what they stumble over. The way we get to deep darkness is just step by step.

You get to deep darkness because you say, I'll take a little step down this path and a little step down this path, and a little step down this path, and next thing you know, you're tripping over stuff you can't see.

Now, maybe talking like that makes you feel beaten down this morning.

Maybe.

In fact, I'm gonna say almost definitely for some of you in this room, as I've talked, God's brought specific struggles and stumblings to your mind, and you've said, I don't wanna go there at all. I don't wanna think about those little steps. Maybe you've checked out a little on me. I understand. Either way, come back to me for this.

Come back to me for this end because he does not leave you without hope. We can all sit here and say, I do take steps down the wrong path. It sounds good to say no. I, I don't, but yes, I do. We can sit here and say, my biological family isn't the right community of wisdom. Sure. We can say maybe I haven't really found that connection in church like I want to. Sure. Maybe you can sit here and say, yeah, I'm, I'm addicted. Maybe in what we traditionally think of to alcohol, to drugs, pornography. Maybe to selfishness, defensiveness, and worry.

But if you're, if you're at that point and you say, well, thanks for the bright, cheery spot, pastor Jed, just stop talking. Listen to the hope that he gives you. Verse 18, the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter. Until full day,

Dawn starts small. Have you ever been up on a ridge or a mountain as dawn starts? You say just that glimmer of light, you can't even spot where it's coming from yet. You just say there's something there. And it tells you Dawn's coming. Noon is coming.

An oak tree starts small too, and it grows. Deep roots, the kind that give you stability in storms of life. They all start small.

Take One Step

Jed Gillis: C. S. Lewis said this, good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.

If you say, I've walked down this path so much, I've forgotten how to get anywhere. Then it's God's grace to you that you're here today and you can hear his word. Take one step towards the light, and it's like the dawn, Dawn is so powerful that even the faintest glimmer of it can't be stopped. When you see the dawn start, do you ever go, oh, let's put that back. Forget dawn. No, you know better.

And the glimmer in our hearts, the Jesus is worthy. So I'm not gonna take this step. I want to take a step towards wisdom. It's like dawn, the path of the righteous. It doesn't start as noon. I love that. He didn't tell us that path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter.

Maybe you think I waste so much time in my life. I waste so much time on social media, on tv, on the internet. Maybe I'm looking at just a waste of time. Maybe it's sinful. I know it's wrong. It's hopeless. It's probably tripping me up in a million areas that I don't even know about.

No, it's not hopeless because Jesus is worthy. Take one step away from that. You say it's just one step. You don't know how far I am down this pathway. However far you are, the fastest way to get back is to turn around, take one step, because when you take that one step and take steps of wisdom, the light can grow.

Maybe you're a man in here, or a teenage boy in here, or a woman for that matter, and what you look at online isn't so innocent and you feel trapped.

One step, turn to Jesus for light. Say, I can barely see the light. Me too. When Dawn starts turn to Jesus for light.

Maybe your marriage feels like a combat zone or at least a cold war. There's no way it's gonna get better. The path of the righteous is like the dawn. I'm gonna serve and love my spouse. One step.

And it's easy to say there's no way it's gonna get better. But Paul says in Galatians, don't grow weary and doing good for induce season. You will reap if you faint not. It's light, it's the dawn starting.

Maybe you look at your life and say, I've got so much anxiety. There's no hope for peace. One step. One glimmer of light is all that you need to say. This is the path of the righteous that's going to grow and grow like the dawn, step by step. Our character is shaped by these small choices.

Depend on Christ for Change

Jed Gillis: Problem is you can change a lot of stuff on the outside, but you need something more than that. Martin Luther, after reforming his life to a very rigorous life as a monk, he said, the problem is I am still just as curved in on myself as a monk, as I was before he needed the beauty of the gospel.

He didn't need somebody to wag their finger at him. Don't do that. He needed somebody to say There's peace with God through Jesus Christ. So walk in wisdom.

That is the dawn of the light that you need and that I need. So turn from trusting yourself to fix your life or your marriage, or your internet habits, or your time-wasting or your anxiety. Yes, don't take a single step there because destruction lurks there, but turn because Jesus is worthy. Because Jesus died on the cross for you to show his love for you.

And because you can have a right relationship with him, turn from trusting yourself and trust in Jesus. And if you do, he is dawning in your life and he who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until he returns.

It might be the smallest flicker of hope, but the dawn always comes. And if the dawn comes, so does noon.

If the dawn of Jesus in your life comes, so does the brightness of holiness with him forever.

Turn From Foolishness, and Walk Together in Wisdom, Motivated by Worship, and Encouraged by Hope.

Jed Gillis: I want to encourage you, if I could take all of that into one sentence for this week:

Turn from foolishness, and walk together in wisdom motivated by worship, encouraged by hope.

Even in the little steps, turn from foolishness and walk in wisdom. Together because you're invited into a community of wisdom. Motivated by worship. Jesus really is that good and that worthy. And encouraged by hope.

I wanna say real quick, kids in this room, if you'll gimme your attention by kids, not teens. I'm coming to you in a minute. Kids in this room, you can do this.

You might not have understood a whole lot of what I said today. That's okay. There's some things in your life that you know are good to do, and there's some things that you know are foolish and wrong to do. This week, ask God to help you to turn from foolish steps and to do the wise thing, listening to your parents, your teachers, others who tell you what that wise path is to turn that way, because Jesus is better and because there's hope that you can actually do it.

Teens told you I was coming. Uh, wherever you are, you guys can do this. If you got a life full of choices in front of you and every day you have choices, this path, that path, or deceive yourself and think you're walking in some middle path. Do you follow the little steps towards wisdom?

You say, I don't see how that fixes things in my life. Exactly. That's what he says. When you're in deep darkness, you don't know what you're stumbling over. But God has given you wisdom that he says will help you to walk a path that isn't deep darkness, where you stumble and you don't know why, but it shines brighter and brighter and brighter. You guys can do that.

Adults you can do that. Not because of your strength. Not because you just buckled down and said, yeah, I'm gonna do better. But because God has shown the light of his wisdom through his word to you. You don't know how it'll all work out. That's okay. Take a step. Maybe it's just one. Take the situation you feel the most hopeless about and ask God to show you, how do I take one step of wisdom? And then clinging to his promise that as that's motivated by worship for him, clinging to his promise that he who began the good work and you will be faithful to complete it.

Maybe it's the sin you to feel like you can't beat. Maybe it's the relationship you feel like will never be better, or whatever else God puts his finger on in your heart. Take one step towards wisdom and trust him. That that light is like the dawn, that will shine brighter and brighter and brighter, till we see him face to face, and we're completely like him.

There's hope, brothers and sisters.

Let's pray. God, you know, our hearts. You know, the temptations that we struggle with. You know, the hopelessness that we feel.

Lord, we come before you though, and we long to embrace your wisdom and we pray that you would be beautiful to us. We pray that our hearts would see the danger of one step down the path of foolishness and the beauty and excitement, and hope of one step in dependence on you.

I pray that you would work by your spirit in each of our lives. I pray for the convicting power of your Holy Spirit, that whatever sins, whatever struggles, whatever paths we find ourselves on, where we're tripping, and we don't even know why. I pray that the light of your spirit would shine on those paths and would show each of us this week that we would walk together in the light.

Thank you that you promise to complete the good work that you've begun in us. In Jesus name, amen.