Heavenly Wisdom For Earthly Living
Scripture: Proverbs 2: 1-9
Introduction: In the reeling, mixed-up world in which we sojourn today, we need every advantage that we can lay hold upon to help us negotiate the dilemmas and the challenges of this earthly life. With wars on many fronts, the jobless rate soaring, a very anemic financial crisis, rising cost in almost all the everyday necessities along with all the social ills and corruption in high places, we are a people in need of HOPE for these difficult times. Hope has been defined as "the sense of what one desires as being possible, feelings of expectancy, and to look forward with desire and reasonable confidence."
For assistance in this area of hope we look to the Book of Proverbs. It is believed that Solomon, the son of David, the great king of Israel was the responsible author of most of this book. Solomon was a man whom God blessed with supernatural ability to know and discern things readily. (Please do not assume that Solomon did not have to apply himself diligently...he did.) God was so pleased with Solomon in his early years as King David's successor that He gave him the choice of anything that he desired. God was even more pleased when Solomon asked for wisdom and the ability to rule well and equitably over the people under his guardianship. We find this beautiful story in 1 Kings 4: 27-34.
The author of Proverbs tells us in no uncertain terms, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom." What is most amazing and frustrating regarding those of us who profess to be Bible believers is how readily and easily we simply ignore and make so little of the clear and plain counsel given to us in the Word of God.
We see that from the perspective of the wisest of men and the counsel of the Holy Spirit that wisdom is the most important and most potent quality that a man can obtain in life. Yet in spite of the many urgent admonitions and exhortations found in the Bible so few of us seem to possess wisdom to any major degree.
One cannot read the Book of Proverbs, the Psalms or the Book of Ecclesiastes without seeing that they are interwoven by the pleas and the counsel for us to get wisdom. In the Book of Proverbs alone wisdom is spoken of directly no fewer that forty-one times.
Wisdom has been described and defined in many different manners by many sincere and learned people. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "wisdom" as "understanding what is true, right and appropriate for the occasion; enduring common sense" and "good judgment in one's affairs." The word translated as "wisdom" in both Testaments carries the sense of "...having good skill in living, following God's design for life," and "the ability to avoid common pitfalls." The Bible Knowledge Commentary defines it as "...being skilled in godly living."
The Bible teaches us that there is an "earthly wisdom" and a "heavenly wisdom." The earthly wisdom teaches us the skills of earthly living and serves as a powerful guide to do so. Likewise, the heavenly wisdom teaches us the skills of godly living and also serves as a powerful and viable guide for doing so.
The Bible says many wonderful things about "heavenly wisdom:" Proverbs 8: 11 says, "For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." What an awesome revelation that is! Proverbs 16: 16 states, "How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver." Try convincing those who are prone to greed that truth! Ecclesiastes 7: 11 says, "Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a very good thing and benefits those who see the sun."
I read an interesting anecdote that may add some insight to this thought: Electrical genius, Charles Steinmetz, installed the generators for Henry Ford's great assembly plant. He was called to come check them out one day because the on-hand engineers couldn't get them running. He arrived and tinkered with the machines for a few moments. He pushed here and tapped there and gave a hefty push at a certain spot, then he threw the switch and everything began to run smoothly.
Mr. Ford was enraged a few days later when he received a bill from Mr. Steinmetz in the amount of $10,000.000 dollars. He demanded an itemized statement before he would pay the bill. With the next mail a statement arrived saying: "For tinkering with the generators, $10.00... for knowing where to tinker, $9,990.00." Mr. Ford promptly paid the bill.
Over the next couple of blogs we are going to tinker with the generators that supply us with the skill to live in the way God has determined that we should live. It is my trust that the wisdom we all need for life might begin to become reality to us.
The first thing that we will note is the SEARCH for WISDOM. We will focus on Proverbs 2: 1-9 for this information: In verses 3 and 4, we see that those who would have wisdom must "call out: and "cry aloud" for it. This is the Bible way of saying, “There must be a sincere and passionate desire for it." Then we must "look" and "search" for it. In essence there must be a desire strong enough to motivate a corresponding action on our part to find it. In a nutshell, we must recognize the value God places on wisdom and then be willing to commit to whatever may supply Heavenly Wisdom for us. We must be willing to read broadly, listen attentively, sit under good teaching, take heed to those who have already attained a level of wisdom beyond where we presently are and follow the advice of Paul to "meditate day and night on the Word of God."
One of the sad commentaries regarding the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is that so many believers tend toward being slothful with regards to this search. It is difficult to find in the Body of Christ at-large any concerted or consistent diligence when it comes to seeking the true wisdom of God. Many constantly look for the easy ways and spiritual short-cuts. They find themselves side-tracked by such distorted deceptions as Chinese fortune cookies, the daily paper horoscopes, medium hot-lines and so-called financial experts on popular TV shows.
There is a story of a proud young man who came to the renowned philosopher, Socrates, seeking wisdom. Mr. Socrates led him through the streets of the city, out through the fields until they reach the sea shore. He then led him into the water chest deep. He asked the young man "What is it that you desire?" The young man responded, "Wisdom;" whereupon, Mr. Socrates pushed him under water for about forty seconds. This was repeated twice more. Finally, when asked the fourth time what he desired, they young man, gasping for breath, responded, "I want air." Mr. Socrates said, "When you desire wisdom as much as you just desired air, you will begin to find it."
In verse four of Proverbs 2, we are told, "...search for wisdom as for a hidden treasure." The implication is that wisdom is more valuable and more to be desired than great earthly treasures. I'm amazed by the new reality shows that deal with people on remote and unfriendly mountains searching for various treasures. Oh, how I desire for them to search for wisdom with the same determination and desire. In the words of a popular song a few years back: "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?"