I had a cool title for this one, but I forgot it

“Do not forsake her [wisdom], and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.”
-Proverbs 4:6

We are a forgetful people in general. Some of us are worse than others. My memory is terrible. If I get a bill from the mail after work, I will have forgotten about it by dinner if it’s not sitting out in the open. I am horrible with names. Someone says, “Hi, I’m John. I’m a lawyer,” and I’ve forgotten the person’s name by the time he’s done saying “lawyer.”

My wife is better, but still forgets much more than she retains. We all do. No one has a perfect memory.

Our schools are built to cater to that. From day one important information is drilled into us with repetition. I remember writing out my letters scores of times for each one. In Spanish class we repeated the words over and over again (it still didn’t help). We have reviews in class, and we go back over notes.

This is how we learn it – repetition, repetition, repetition. I needed help the first few times I tied my shoe, but no more. I can type without looking at the keyboard, but I couldn’t for the first few years doing it.

If you’ve been reading this blog since the beginning, you’ve looked at the idea of this verse many times. Solomon is beating it into us. This is too important for him to have said once and assumed that we would remember the chapter and verse of where he did.

Do not forsake wisdom. What is wisdom? Let’s do this again. Wisdom is the understanding of God’s ways and the ability to apply it to your life. Do that, Solomon is saying. Seek out God’s ways and follow!

What is wisdom? Wisdom is the understanding that we do not deserve eternal life. Wisdom is looking honestly at yourself and realizing that you can’t make it on your own. When you see the sin in your life for what it is – the anger, the lust, the greed, the pride, the ambition, the lies, the deceit, the jealousy – you’ve got a good start.

Wisdom is seeking God in every moment, because if you don’t, you know you’re going to get exactly what you deserve. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. But wait, you say, my sins aren’t that bad. Really? The Bible says that if you look at a woman with lust in your heart you are guilty of adultery. If you get unduly angry at someone, you are guilty of murder. God expects perfection, and any slip makes us unworthy of Him.

Wisdom is falling at His feet and begging for mercy, because you realize that it’s the only chance you’ve got. Wisdom is turning toward Jesus. When He died on the Cross, He took the punishment for our sins. In that death, He paid the price that you were meant to pay.

Wisdom is repenting and believing in Jesus, because there is no other way to the Father but through Jesus. In a previous chapter of Proverbs, we saw that Jesus was mentioned under the name “Wisdom.” This is why. This is the path of wisdom.

And what happens to those who believe in Jesus? He will keep you. He will cover you in His righteousness and take away your sin. He will protect you and deliver you into eternity, perfected and ready to stand before the Father.

The wise seek Him, for there is no other way. We cannot make it on our own. We cannot impress God with our works. We cannot be good enough. All other religions want you to earn your way to Heaven. The wise know that it’s already too late for that. The wise know they need Jesus.