Pro 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.

Proverbs 9 can be divided into two sections. The first section (v.1-12) heralds the invitation of Lady Wisdom to everyone to come to the banquet she has prepared. The second section (v.13-18) is the invitation of a loose woman. Wisdom is represented as having a house which she has made and adorned, and to which she invites her guests. The banquet meal is ready to be served. She sends out her maids to announce the invitation to everyone to come to the feast. She calls out to the simple and those who lack understanding: “Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding” (v.6).  What is this Wisdom she is proclaiming? The answer is in verse 10: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” The result of getting this Wisdom is long life: “For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased” (v.11). Lady Folly also has an invitation. She is represented as a loose woman sitting at the door of her house calling on the people who pass by to her chamber. She does not have a feast for them. She has only her body to offer; very tempting indeed. And the simple turns in to her. Solomon says: “But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell” (v.18). Two invitations with two different results - Those who enter the house of Wisdom have long life. Those who enter the house of the loose woman enter the world of the dead. What is the lesson for us? We have a choice! We can choose either to walk in the way of Wisdom or in the way of Folly. And, our destination is determined by our choice – eternal life or eternal damnation. There is a cause and effect for everything. Don’t be fooled into thinking that your decisions do not matter. Hosea tells us that if you sow the wind you will reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). So make sure you make the right choice. So, what is the right choice? There are two invitations and they both look attractive, but only one leads to eternal life. Obviously, the sensible choice is to choose life. Moses, in his parting speech, tells the Hebrew nation: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). The foolish choose the short term pleasure; they choose the loose woman. They are the people of this world who reject God in spite that God has sent out His invitation to come to His feast: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). The wise choose the long term gain. Moses recognized that the pleasure of sin is for a moment while its destructing effect is eternal, and so he chose to fear God and keep His commandments (Hebrews 11:25, 26). That he chose to suffer with the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years was nothing compared to eternity. Likewise, Paul says: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Brethren, the choice is obvious: Choose life. Choose the Wisdom of God. In choosing the Wisdom of God, we choose God, choose His path, choose His feast, and in so doing we choose the life He intends for us to live. What will you choose?