What is true wisdom? Is it worldly knowledge? Or is it something from above? First of all we should understand that wisdom is different from knowledge. You may be knowledgeable in many things, but may still lack true wisdom. Wisdom can be defined as ability to think and act based on true knowledge, understanding and insight, which leads you to lasting gains in your life in terms of happiness, peace, health, possessions and long life. This may bit sound heavenly. Choices we take are based on our wisdom. When we take wrong choices using our free will it results in tragedy. We can see its beginning in the Garden of Eden, when our first parents listened to the “father of lies” (John 8:44) rather than to the heavenly Father, source of all true wisdom. Human mind gets confused by the mingling of error with the truth, an art greatly practiced by the devil. True wisdom can originate only from the omniscient, which we call God. That is why it is written “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). What does it mean “fear of the Lord”? This “fear of the Lord” does not mean just a fear of God’s punishment, which makes somebody to obey Him. It can be defined as taking God and His word seriously with respect and love. We humbly come to Him in complete faith and recognize His presence at all times in our life. As Moses said to the Israelites “Fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Deut. 10:12). God should be everything in our life. The real wisdom originates when we are in constant communion with God. Wisdom starts when we first understand that God is our Creator, the One who gives us life - a God of love, and justice, and mercy, and redemption (John 3:16, Ps. 89:14, Heb. 9:12). Fear of God has similarity to the reverence we show to our earthly father, except that it should be more to God. Don’t we love our earthly father, while at the same time have a little fear in our hearts which leads to reverence, taking his words seriously? We all know that education is meant to lead us to knowledge, more than that to wisdom. But where should the first education start? Who should first lead the child to God? True education comes, first and foremost, from the parents (Prov. 1:8-19). Bible calls education “instruction”, even “law”. Actually the Hebrew word for law is “torah”, which means direction. The parents are to point their children in the right direction. In contrast there is a different type of “education”, which is mentioned as the voice of sinners, which leads the person in the wrong way. The family should be the greatest of all educational institutions. It is where the true education begins. This is his or her first school, where parents are child’s first instructors, who teach the lessons that are to guide him or her throughout life. This educational influence at the home has a decisive power either for good or evil. If the child is not rightly educated there, Satan will educate him or her through his favorite agencies. Education matters more than material riches. The time spent with our children will be of much greater value for them than the time spent at our businesses. There is this call out from wisdom among the noise and acrimony of this world (Prov. 1:20-21). While the sinners “lie in wait” and “lurk secretly” (v 11, 18), wisdom “calls aloud outside” (v 20). Thus this is an appeal from wisdom to the people on the street. There is every chance for this appeal for wisdom to be rejected. Because of their character some reject it. Bible calls them as arrogant and disdainful (Prov. 1:25, 30), as if they know better. Wisdom is for the humble. Those who reject wisdom are fools who “hate knowledge” (v 22, 29). Bible says “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing… I will destroy the wisdom of the wise… Where is the wise? …Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? … Christ…the wisdom of God…the foolishness of God is wiser than men” (1 Cor. 18-25). “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor. 3:19). Those who reject heavenly wisdom will reap the fruit of their own rejection. Having refused fear of the Lord, they try to be content with themselves, “full with their own fancies” (Prov. 1:31). When we reject wisdom from above, we often end up with fables and lies that we fabricate for ourselves, or fables and lies that others make for us, which we so readily accept. In this way, we replace God with idols. Ironically, those who despise religion, mocking those they judge as simple and naive, often are superstitious in their own way, placing value on the most fleeting and useless of things, which in the end, can never satisfy the most basic needs of their hearts. We should be receptive and attentive to the voice of wisdom (Prov. 2:1-2). Secondly we should cry out and ask for wisdom (v 3). Finally we should seek and search for wisdom like “hidden treasures” (v 4). Wisdom like salvation is a free gift from God (Prov. 2:6). Those who have the fear of the Lord, will find the wisdom of God (v 5). This is how the divine wisdom works - God gives wisdom to the faithful; He stores up wisdom in the faithful, and He also guards and preserves the way of the wise. When wisdom enters your heart, it will be a different experience to you. Not only will we enjoy the knowledge of the Lord, but it will be a pleasant experience to our souls (Prov. 2:10). Those who seek heavenly wisdom will be protected from the way of the evil (v 12) and seduction from the devil (v 16). They will always walk in the path of righteousness (v 20). But way of the wicked is different (Prov. 2:13, 17). Those who are on the wrong path, should have first left the right path. Wickedness can be understood as lack of faithfulness to God. Sin begins subtly and innocently, but before long the sinner not only live wickedly but also enjoys it. What is the foolishness of thinking that we in ourselves are wise? To be wise in one’s own eyes will lead to the illusion that one does not need God to be wise. This is a hopeless situation. There is more hope for a fool than for them (Prov. 26:12). Whether the wise will obey God’s Commandments? To be wise means he or she will keep God’s commandments (Prov. 3:1). Genuinely wise will display mercy and truth (Prov. 3:3), and will trust in the LORD (Prov. 3:5). Wisdom involves an intimate relationship with God. Note the repeated reference to the heart (Prov. 3:1, 3, 5), the seat of our personal response to God. There are lasting rewards which comes with true wisdom. Wisdom is associated with long life and health (Prov. 3:2, 8, 16, 18, 22). There is this metaphorical reference to the “tree of life”, a promise which is repeated several times (Prov. 3:18, 11:30, 13:12, 15:4), which goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. This alludes to idea that true wisdom can lead to eternal life, if we live according to it. The quality of life which our first parents enjoyed with God can be restored to a greater extent when we live with God. We should understand the deep spiritual truth underlying the statement that with God “is the fountain of life” (Ps. 36:9). Everything good in life come from Him. Some people think that devotion to God is detrimental to cheerful social life. But those who walk in the wisdom of God find that “godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8). They fully enjoy the real but non-artificial pleasures of life. May God bless us with this heavenly wisdom, understand it and live a life according to this divine guidance! Welcome to this page for more messages https://facebook/SomeTruthsThatYouShouldNotMiss
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 20:23:49 +0000