Wisdom: The Ultimate Multi-tool
(Proverbs 24:1-6)
1. Two guys are bungee-jumping one day. The first guy says to the second. "You know, we could make a lot of money running our own bungee-jumping service in Mexico. "The second guy thinks this is a great idea, so the two pool their money and buy everything they'll need - a tower, an elastic cord, insurance, etc.
They travel to Mexico and begin to set up on the square. As they are constructing the tower, a crowd begins to assemble. Slowly, more and more people gather to watch them at work. The first guy jumps. He bounces at the end of the cord, but when he comes back up, the second guy notices that he has a few cuts and scratches. Unfortunately, the second guy isn't able catch him, he falls again, bounces and comes back up again. This time, he is bruised and bleeding. Again, the second guy misses him. The first guy falls again and bounces back up. This time, he comes back pretty messed up he's got a couple of broken bones and is almost unconscious. Luckily, the second guy finally catches him this time and says, "What happened? Was the cord too long?"
The first guy says, "No, the cord was fine, but what is a pinata? [unijokes.com]
2. It is important to understand what you are getting into. And nothing helps us with this more than godly wisdom.
3. As we resume our studies in Proverbs, let me remind you that chapter 24 is the last part of the “30 sayings.” Proverbs 22:20, “Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge,”
Main Idea: Cultivating wisdom is one of the most important things we can do to increase our “personal capital.” Wisdom is an amazing multi-tool that helps us in so many realms and with so many particular decisions.
I. Wisdom Helps Us Be Selective About WHOM We Admire (1-2)
This is the 18th saying of the 30, and has 4 lines.
A. What we IMAGINE is how we try to be.
1. In past generations, parents were concerned about the character of music stars or athletes or politicians, or the lessons taught in movies.
2. Most modern parents give little thought to these things, or seem helpless.
3. In HS, a guy imitated Kojak (Telly Sevalas); Brooke Shields bushy eyebrows
B. We need to avoid envy, but especially envy of the UNGODLY.
Psalm 73:1-3, 16-19 , But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
“Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!”
C. We should not desire to make the WICKED our peer group.
D. We are social beings, bent on IMITATION; we need to face our weakness, not arrogantly think we are somehow exempt.
E. Scripture acquiesces to the reality that we have to imitate SOMEONE.
Hebrews 13:7, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
• While Scripture urge us to model Jesus’ character, we do not model His life; we need to imitate someone we know and see the outcome of their faith…I have always had people at HPC that I could look up to….
Application: Who do you admire? Really? A family member? Celebrity?
II. Wisdom Helps Us Build House and HOME (3-4)
The 19th saying (3 lines)
A. House here speaks of HOUSEHOLD and a structure, and perhaps a “life.”
The text here is not just addressing being savvy with lumber and bricks. It is also talking about building our families or lives.
(bayit) “house, household, home, place, temple, inward, family…..house is applied to a household or family: Jacob’s household (Gen. 35:2)…In the OT there is a solidarity between a man and his house…So Joshua informs the Israelites that he and his house will serve the Lord (Josh. 24:15).” [Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Volume I, p. 105].
Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
B. Rooms filled with “pleasant treasures” speaks of PARTICULARS that bless us.
C. Wisdom helps us make successful, ORDERLY choices that benefit us.
1. Abigail (Nabal); one wise, one a fool; she saved her household! (I Sam 25)
2. Opposite way to choose: being impulsive, arrogant, self-centered.
3. Wisdom teaches us to think long-term, not just living for the moment.
4. For example, many parents focus upon pleasing their children rather than developing character. Not thinking ahead.
5. Wisdom forces us to focus on the long-term impact of our behavior upon the members of our household.
Application: All of us are sometimes impulsive, sometimes arrogant, sometimes self-centered. But we are more often choosing with wisdom?
III. Wisdom Helps Us Face Life’s Challenges By STRATEGY (5-6)
20TH saying (4 lines)
A. Wisdom teaches us not to be SELF-RELIANT
B. Argument from greater (war) to LESSER (life)
C. We are wise to COLLECT counsel, but decisions are ours
1. When I counsel people, I tell them I will offer the best advice I can, but they need to make the choices because they — not me — get the consequences.
2. Wise people outside a situation can generally think more impartially.
3. How our brains work
Dr. Richard Restak, MD, an authority on the brain, writes, “We say we don’t want our emotions interfering with our judgment. But keeping our reasoning powers uncontaminated by our emotions isn’t as easily accomplished as we have been led to believe. Many times the influence of our emotions on our reasoning impedes self-knowledge…” (The New Brain, p. 113)
Application: In many ways, life is a war with a multitude of skirmishes and battles. We need to strategize, not just float. And wisdom encourages us to be counseled and to counsel others.
Cultivating wisdom is one of the most important things we can do to increase our “personal capital.” Wisdom is an amazing multi-tool that helps us in so many realms and with so many particular decisions.
