real wisdom

Proverbs 1:1-9 NLT

These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. 2 Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. 3 Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. 4 These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. 5 Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.  Let those with understanding receive guidance 6 by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  My child, listen when your father corrects you.  Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. 9 What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honor around your neck.

The world in which we live describes success and achievement based on two distinct things.  First, it is thought that success is seen in the amount of possessions that a person owns.  Second, it is thought that success is in the numbers of degrees and experience that a person has accumulated. 

Yet I suggest that human thinking is flawed and leads to more trouble than most people understand.  Ok.  That thought really comes from God who tells us that real understanding and wisdom can only come from Him.  That leads us to acknowledge the fact that possessions, degrees and experience are also gifts from God.

For a person to be wise they must soak up the truth of God.  There are many people who have gained knowledge without knowing God, yet connecting to God takes wisdom to a brand new level.  By our understanding that God is the source we will hold tight to real wisdom.  By hearing from God we pass on that wisdom to others in our influence.

The wisdom of God not only gives us insight, but this wisdom leads us to know and do what is right.  Human thinking can reason things out, but it cannot give us the blessings that only come from our connection to God.

Wise people listen to wise people.  Let me give that to you little further thought.  When you are dealing with a problem, the best person to help you with that problem is a person who has dealt with the same.  This section of Proverbs and much more of the Bible leads us into more wisdom.  God tells us to gain wisdom and we will be wiser.  What is the source of wisdom?  The answer is God.  The place He put much of that wisdom is the Bible.

There are consequences to separating wisdom from it’s source, from God.  Staying connecting or keeping the two connected helps us to revere God and worship Him.  Worship is more than the songs we sing or the service we attend on Sunday at church.  Worship is what all of our life does.  What we treasure is worship.  What we do with our blessings is worship.  How we interact with others is worship.  But the question is what or who are we worshipping?

To fear the Lord is to connect to wisdom.  Fearing God brings a foundation to our lives that nothing else can give.

The wisest people I have met connect wisdom with God.  Fools discount one or the other.  I challenge you to acknowledge the wisdom of God and seek out the wise people God has put in to your life.  Those people make us better.  Those people make us stronger.  Those people allow us to see the character of our God.

Want wisdom?  Seek God.  Greater days are ahead!