Proverbs 1 and 2
For those who may not know, The Book of Proverbs is a collection of brilliant insights written and collected by Solomon, son of David, the wisest man to ever live outside of Jesus Himself. Most of Proverbs is written in the voice of a caring parent speaking to a child. The Proverbs encourage us to be in relationship with God, to trust Him and to allow Him to save us from the pitfalls that come our way when we put our trust in worldly wisdom.
Before we get started, it’s important to understand the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Both are referenced regularly in scripture so that tells us they are very relevant but too often they’re viewed as synonymous and that’s just not the case. A dictionary definition of knowledge may say something along the lines of “information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance.” Wisdom is the “ability to discern or judge what is true, right or lasting.”
Listen…you can have knowledge without wisdom, but you can’t be wise without knowledge. The best example I came across this week was this. Knowledge is knowing how to use a gun; wisdom is knowing when to use it and when to keep it holstered.
For the Christian, we can know Jesus, we can know of Jesus, we can know that He was sent here by God the Father to save us all from sin and death. We can know about grace and mercy and confession and repentance. All good. But wisdom is when we take all the things that we know to be true of Jesus and allow those things to govern the way we live. The best-known verses in the Book of Proverbs lay out for us what this wisdom in action looks like. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”
In the years where I depended almost exclusively on my own understanding, my “Kevin Wisdom”, getting drunk every day seemed to be a sensible way to live. That lack of wisdom didn’t do me any favors and in fact nearly led to my total downfall. As I worked on moving away from that way of living, as I took my One Step into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Jesus, I soon discovered a beautiful reality that’s shared with us by Jesus’ brother James in his New Testament epistle. There James writes, chapter 1, verses 5-6, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, make sure your faith is in God alone.”
This is a beautiful truth for those of us who make chronically bad decisions. We can step away from that character trait, ask God to bless us with His wisdom and…He will be faithful to give us what we need and won’t give us a hard time regarding all the dumb choices we made prior to turning to Him.
That’s a good deal and a good thing to know because so often what keeps us from going to Jesus is the raging pride monster that dwells inside each of us. That beast doesn’t like to own up to mistakes and for sure doesn’t love turning to other resources for help. Jesus tells us, “No sweat. Let it go. What do we need to do now to set things right?”
Worldly wisdom tends to enjoy seeing alone and twisting in the wind when we come up short. Look at this from Proverbs 2:6-12…
For the LORD grants wisdom! From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to Him.
Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe. Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.
Listen. This isn’t hard. The world we live in today doesn’t want you anywhere near the wisdom of Jesus. The wisdom of the world today tells us to drink and drug and be promiscuous and shout down those who disagree with you. The wisdom of the world today encourages pride in sinful behavior. The wisdom of the world today tries to tell you that Jesus is the last thing you need. That kind of wisdom is seductive, it makes life seem carefree…no restrictions, right? But there will always come a moment when we live surrendered to the world when the prospect of disaster looms large, extreme, and foreboding. Maybe even life threatening.
When you get there, the world will most assuredly desert you.
That’s why we need to consider the wisdom that comes to us through our faith in Jesus. Look again at the verses from Proverbs. His wisdom brings knowledge and understanding and fairness and protection. Safety. Discernment. Integrity. And when we live committed to those things, when we allow that wisdom to instill in us a desire to live in Jesus’ will, totally surrendered to His Lordship, we will never be forsaken. We’ll never be deserted. We’ll never be alone because His Holy Spirit lives in us. In fact, it is that Spirit that provides us with a constant outpouring of. Godly wisdom.
I want you all to read your Bibles every day. Listen to good preaching. Be in a good, solid, Christian fellowship. Worship! Pray! Do these things every day so that you can in fact grow in knowledge and understanding of Jesus. These are essentials. But all these things fall short of what they could be if you’re not putting to work in your life the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Book smarts aren’t enough…we need to walk the walk.
So, the next time you’re up against it, rather than reaching for thing that brings a temporary fix, turn to Jesus. Seek Him! Like the Word says, if we seek His will in all we do, He will show us which path to take. And Jesus will never steer you wrong.