Proverbs 9:3-4 , Proverbs 9:16
I. Choose. Here is the manliness of manhood, that a man has a reason for what he does, and has a will in doing it. Be the masters and lords of the circumstances in which you stand. Put your heel on temptations if they come to you. Remember there is the alternative, the one thing or the other, and it becomes you to make up your mind, to resolve, to know why you have done so, and to act because and as you have resolved.
II. Choose wisdom. There are the two claimants that are standing wooing your affections: Wisdom, on the one side; and this "foolish woman," the embodiment and impersonation of Folly, on the other. (1) At first sight, on a cursory reading of the earlier Chapter s of this Book of Proverbs, it may seem as if all that was meant by wisdom was a shrewd earthly common-sense and worldly prudence; while folly, on the other hand, may seem to be mere ignorance and want of understanding. But look a little closer, and you will see that the wisdom spoken of in all these Chapter s is closely connected, not only with clearness of the well-furnished head, but with uprightness of the heart. (a) The wisdom that he speaks about is wisdom that has rectitude for an essential part of it, the fibre of its very being a righteousness and holiness. If a man would be wise it must be with a wisdom that was in God before it is in him. (b) The true wisdom is no mere quality, but a living person; her voice is the voice of Christ, our Brother, our Sacrifice, and our Lord. (2) Mark the manner of these appeals and the consequences of listening to them. The wisdom of our text appeals to conscience. Folly appeals only to the sense of pleasure and desire of gratification. Severe and pure though the beauty of wisdom is, yet "her ways areways of pleasantness, and her paths are peace." "All the things thou canst desire" are not to be compared with what she has to bestow.
III. Choose Christ now. There is no more dark remembrance to a Christian man than the early days when he put off decision. Every day that you live makes it less likely that you will choose. Every day that you live makes it harder for you to choose aright. Every day adds to the heap of wasted hours that you will carry regretfully with you to your graves, if ever you give the trust of your spirits, the love of your hearts, the obedience of your lives to Christ Jesus at all.
A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester,p. 304.
References: Proverbs 9:5. J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes,3rd series, p. 48. Proverbs 9:7. Preacher's Monthly,vol. viii., p. 183.Proverbs 9:7-9. W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven,1st series, p. 213.