IN PROVERBS 1:7, KING SOLOMON DECLARED THAT "THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE." HE ALSO DIDN’T FAIL TO MENTION THAT "ONLY FOOLS DESPISE WISDOM AND DISCIPLINE."
WHEN IT COMES TO OBTAINING WISDOM, IT ALL STARTS WITH GOD. THE WORLD MAY GET THEIR WISDOM BY CLINGING ON TO EVERY WORD SAID BY OPRAH WINFREY. SOME MAY EVEN TURN TO MARTHA STEWART FOR CREATIVE IDEAS AND TO "MISS CLEO" FOR ADVICE ABOUT THE FUTURE.
BUT FOR CHRISTIANS, WISDOM IS FOUND ALL IN ONE PLACE. THAT "PLACE" WE FIND OUR WISDOM IS THE THRONE ROOM OF GRACE WHERE GOD GRANTS WISDOM TO THOSE WHO ASK.
JAMES 1:5, "IF YOU NEED WISDOM - IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO - ASK HIM, AND HE WILL GLADLY TELL YOU. HE WILL NOT RESENT YOUR ASKING."
WISDOM IS A GIFT FROM GOD THAT HE FREELY GIVES TO THOSE WHO WILL ASK. WISDOM IS SO MUCH MORE THAN MERE KNOWLEDGE.
KNOWLEDGE IS, AS DEFINED BY WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY, "SOMETHING LEARNED AND KEPT IN THE MIND." WISDOM IS NOT INTELLECTUAL RETENTION BUT KNOWLEDGE PUT INTO SKILLFUL ACTION.
WISDOM IS SKILLFUL LIVING. WE NEED TO SKILLFULLY LIVE OUT OUR FAITH AS PRESCRIBED IN GOD’S WORD. BY CONFORMING OUR LIVES TO GOD’S WORD WE ARE SKILLFULLY CHOOSING TO TAKE THE "HIGH ROAD" WHEN OTHER’S CHOOSE THE CONTENT LIFESTYLE OF THE "LOW ROAD."
A CHRISTIAN SHOULD NEVER BE CONTENT WITH THE MEDIOCRE, HUMDRUM, RUN-OF-THE-MILL, ORDINARY WAY OF LIVING LIFE. WE’RE NOT HERE TO JUST "GET BY." WE ARE TO BE DILIGENTLY WORKING ON REACHING EVEN GREATER HEIGHTS IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
IT IS A LIFETIME OF LONGING TO KNOW GOD BETTER AND TO KNOW HIM MORE AND MORE. YES, IT WILL TAKE US A WHILE AND IT WON’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.
WE DON’T MICROWAVE OUR FAITH AND LEARN IT ALL IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. IT IS MORE LIKE A CROCK-POT WHERE WE SLOWLY, BUT SURELY, SEEK THE THINGS OF GOD THROUGH TRAINING, STUDY, AND DAILY LIVING. THIS IS BIBLICAL WISDOM!
KING SOLOMON WHO WROTE PROVERBS 2, IS SHOWING US HOW THIS IS THE WAY TO GO! HE USES 8 VERBS: "ACCEPT, STORE UP, TURNING, APPLYING, CALL, CRY, LOOK, AND SEARCH."
ALL EIGHT OF THESE VERBS ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STUDENT WHO SEEKS FOR WISDOM. IT IS ALL BASED ON THE INITIATIVE OF THE STUDENT. THREE TIMES SOLOMON WROTE THE PHRASE "IF YOU!" IN OTHER WORDS, WISDOM TAKES EFFORT TO OBTAIN.
THEN HOW DO WE OBTAIN THIS "BIBLICAL WISDOM" IF IT IS ’UP TO US?" FIRST, BY GRACIOUSLY ACCEPTING THAT GOD’S WORD IS THE TRUTH.
WE NOT ONLY STOCK UP THIS TRUTH IN OUR MINDS, BUT WE TAKE IT INTO CUSTODY AND STORE IT DEEP INTO OUR CONSCIENCE AND HEART. WE DO AS THE PSALMIST IN PSALM 119:11, "I HAVE HIDDEN YOUR WORD IN MY HEART, THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST YOU."
SECONDLY, BY OPENING UP OUR EARS AND HEARTS TOWARD WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. THIS IS ATTENTIVE LISTENING. IT IS COMING TO CHURCH TO LEARN GOD’S WORD NOT JUST TO HEAR GOD’S WORD.
IT IS EASIER TO STORE A LIQUID IN A BOWL RATHER THAN A COLANDER. THE SAME IS TRUE FOR US. IT IS MUCH EASIER FOR US TO LEARN IF WE WORK ON STAYING ATTENTIVE RATHER THAN BEING EASILY DISTRACTED BY COMPLACENCY.
WE STAY ATTENTIVE BY BRINGING OUR BIBLES AND TAKING NOTES, PAYING ATTENTION TO THE WORDS IN EACH VERSE OF THE HYMNS, MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE, AND THEN COMBINING ALL OF THESE THINGS INTO OUR LIVES THROUGH THE PROCESS OF APPLICATION.
WHEN A PENCIL GETS DULL IT BECOMES USELESS IN ITS INTENDED PURPOSE. ONLY WHEN ITS "DULLNESS" IS CUT AWAY WILL IT BECOME SHARP AND USEFUL AGAIN. OUR LIVES WILL BECOME DULL AND USELESS IF WE DO NOT SHARPEN THEM THROUGH THE CONSTANT APPLICATION OF WISDOM.
THIRDLY, IT’S CRYING OUT AND RAISING OUR VOICES FOR WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING. THIS IS THE PERSON WHO ISN’T AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT, SEEK OUT, AND ASK QUESTIONS.
IT’S CHOOSING NOT TO BE INTIMIDATED BY THE UNKNOWN OR BEING AFRAID THAT WE MIGHT REVEAL OUR IGNORANCE IN THE PROCESS OF LEARNING.
IT IS EARNESTLY SEEKING AFTER WISDOM INSTEAD OF JUST GRUDGINGLY GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS BECAUSE ONE FEELS THEY "HAVE TO."
ANOTHER WORD FOR "CRYING OUT" AND "RAISING OUR VOICES" WOULD BE "ENTHUSIASM." LET US, WITH UNTIRING ENERGY AND INEXHAUSTIBLE PASSION, TOIL FOR WISDOM.
FOURTHLY, IT IS TO SEEK FOR WISDOM AS ONE WOULD SEARCH FOR SILVER AND GOLD. WISDOM COMES ONLY THROUGH HARD WORK. WISDOM COMES THROUGH AN UNRELENTING PERSEVERANCE. IT IS ARDUOUS LABOR THAT REQUIRES AN UNREMITTING ZEAL AND DILIGENT THIRST.
THE HEBREW WORD USED FOR "SEEKING" IN THIS VERSE CAN MEAN "TO SEARCH" OR "TO DIG OUT." JUST AS PRECIOUS METALS SUCH AS GOLD AND SILVER ARE SEARCHED FOR AND DUG UP OUT OF THE GROUND, WE ARE TO SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES AND DIG OUT ITS TRUTHS FOR OUR LIVES.
AS PRECIOUS AS GOLD IS TO THE FINANCIAL WORLD, SO SHOULD THE WORD OF GOD BE MOST PRECIOUS TO US. THIS IS SO, BECAUSE WE WANT TO HAVE, AS STATED IN COLOSSIANS 2:2, "…ALL THE RICHES OF ASSURED UNDERSTANDING AND HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S MYSTERY, THAT IS, CHRIST HIMSELF, IN WHOM ARE HIDDEN ALL THE TREASURES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE."
FOUR WAYS TO OBTAIN "BIBLICAL WISDOM" THAT WE CAN APPLY TO OUR LIVES. YES, IT IS UP TO US AND IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF EFFORT THAT NOBODY CAN MAKE US EXERT.
WISDOM IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY AND WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT IF WE’LL SIMPLY MAKE IT. PROVERBS 4:7, "WISDOM IS SUPREME; THEREFORE GET WISDOM. THOUGH IT COST ALL YOU HAVE, GET UNDERSTANDING."
WISDOM IS MORE THAN INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENT. IT IS A LIFESTYLE AND A RELATIONSHIP THAT LEADS TO HOLINESS AND COMMUNION WITH GOD.
IT BOILS DOWN TO THAT OLD SAYING, "NO GOD, NO PEACE; KNOW GOD, KNOW PEACE!" IT IS AN INDESCRIBABLE AND UNTOUCHABLE INNER JOY THAT COMES FROM SIMPLY KNOWING GOD THROUGH HIS WORD AND COMMUNING WITH HIM INTIMATELY.
DO I THINK IT IS WORTH DOING ALL OF THIS? KNOWING GOD WILL BLESS ME WITH WISDOM AND ALSO SHIELD ME, GUARD ME, AND PRESERVE ME, FROM THE WAYS OF EVIL AND THE DARKNESS OF SATAN’S KINGDOM, I WOULD SAY, "YES" WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST HESITATION!
WE NEED THIS WISDOM TODAY. IN OURSELVES, WE CAN DO NOTHING, WE ARE NOTHING, WE HAVE NOTHING. HOW, THEN, CAN WE DRAW FROM A WELL THAT IS DRY? WE NEED THE WISDOM OF GOD IN OUR LIVES.
YET, SOME WILL STILL NEEDLESSLY INFLICT PAIN UPON THEMSELVES. THEY BRING HARDSHIPS AND HEARTACHES INTO THEIR LIVES SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY EITHER MAKE THEMSELVES TOO BUSY TO LEARN OR JUST DON’T TRY.
SHOW ME SOMEONE WHO IS STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH THE CONFLICTS IN THEIR LIFE. SHOW ME SOMEONE WHO IS FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO CONQUER THE BINDING HABITS OF SIN. SHOW ME SOMEONE STRUGGLING TO LIVE A LIFE OF PURITY AND HOLINESS. SHOW ME SOMEONE WHO IS OVERWHELMED WITH STRESS FROM BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY. SHOW ME SOMEONE WHO HAS GONE NUMB FROM JUST TRYING TO MAKE LIFE EQUALIZE.
SHOW ME AND I’LL SHOW YOU SOMEONE WHO HAS SETTLED FOR LESS THAN BEST IN OBTAINING THE WISDOM OF GOD. SIMPLY PUT: HOW ONE RESPONDS TO THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES SPEAKS VOLUMES OF HOW THEY HAVE PREPARED THEMSELVES SPIRITUALLY TO DEAL WITH WHAT THIS SINFUL WORLD HAS TO OFFER.
SEEKING AFTER GOD AND OBTAINING HIS GIFT OF WISDOM MAKES THAT MUCH DIFFERENCE! THAT IS WHY SOME SINK INTO SADNESS AND DROWN IN DEPRESSION INSTEAD OF SINGING SONGS OF JOY AND LIBERTY.
THAT IS WHY SOME LIVE IN PEACE WHILE OTHERS LIVE IN PIECES. IT IS WHY SOME CAN SENSE GOD’S PRESENCE WHILE OTHERS CAN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE OF GOD BEING PRESENT.
IT IS WHY MOST FIND THEIR EXISTENCE IN PURE MISERY BECAUSE THEY HAVEN’T SOUGHT AFTER THE PURITY OF THE GREAT MYSTERY OF GOD MADE FLESH IN JESUS CHRIST.
ALL ONE NEEDS TO DO IS TO SIMPLY TURN AROUND AND GO IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF WHERE THEY WERE GOING. WE CALL THAT "REPENTANCE!"
REPENTANCE IS CONFESSING OUR SINS OF REJECTING HIS TRUTH AND ASKING HIS FORGIVENESS. THEN IT IS SPENDING THE REST OF OUR LIVES SEEKING AFTER HIS WILL, GROWING IN WISDOM AND SERVING HIM WITH OUR LIVES.
WILL WE SEEK AFTER THE LIBERATING FREEDOM OF "BIBLICAL WISDOM?" I HOPE YOU WILL TODAY.
THAT IS WHY I LEAVE YOU WITH THE VERY WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IN MATTHEW 7:7-8, "ASK, AND IT WILL BE GIVEN YOU; SEARCH, AND YOU WILL FIND; KNOCK, AND THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED FOR YOU. FOR EVERYONE WHO ASKS RECEIVES, AND EVERYONE WHO SEARCHES FINDS, AND FOR EVERYONE WHO KNOCKS, THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED."
