The seeking, the finding, and the showing

“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.”
-Proverbs 4:7

People tell me that I’m smart. I really don’t think of myself that way anymore. I’m very curious, which causes me to research almost everything I come across. I just really want to know! So I have accumulated quite a bit of information out of just being a curious fellow. That probably makes me appear smart.

But I used to think of myself as VERY smart. I used to think I knew the answers to everything because of my powerful intellect. Frankly, it was one of the most foolish times of my life. I was so foolish in that time because I stopped listening to anyone. I thought I knew it all, or would know it all very soon and without anybody’s help thank you very much, so what did I need to listen to others for?

That’s a big pet peeve of mine – people who think they know everything. Even when I was one of those people, I used to hate it when someone wouldn’t listen. No, I didn’t see the problem there, but I do now. You can’t talk to people like that! Your words just pass through their heads and out the other side. They are there to talk, not listen.

And when you live like that, it’s over. That’s it. That’s as smart as you will ever be, because you’ll never move beyond yourself.

What David is saying here (as reported by Solomon), is that the first step in being wise is knowing you need to seek wisdom. I don’t like the ESV translation here, because it’s sort of hard to follow. The King James Version says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

You want to be wise? Seek wisdom, because wisdom is gained in the seeking. Did you catch that? Wisdom is both goal and journey here. It is what we are after, and it is how we get there. In wisdom we set out, and wisdom grows in the walking.

And how should we walk? See, so many religions out there have so many ways to find wisdom. They’ll tell you to go experience the world, which will likely only get you a shot of penicillin. They tell you to go talk to an elderly person, which will get you just as much wisdom and foolishness as the person you choose. They tell you to meditate on nothing, which will get you exactly that. They tell you to believe in the book written by the religion’s founder, which again only gets you the wisdom and foolishness of the founder.

What we have to understand is that wisdom, as with all good things, comes from God. Wisdom, by its very nature, relates to who He is. Therefore a walk around the world will only get you as far as the world, but no farther. And a walk with a guru or spiritual leader will show you their world, which doesn’t get you any farther than your own.

This sort of wisdom is not going to be achieved on your own. You have spent too much time ignoring God. You have spent too long following your own desires. It’s all you know. In merely lying have you offended His holy character. In your heart you have kept hatred and lust, which cannot mix with the love and purity of the Lord. God demands righteousness, and you have fallen short.

But God came to earth in the form of the man Jesus. Upon the Cross, He took the punishment we deserve in our sins. Then He rose again to prepare a place for us in eternity. He came to show us a way to forgiveness. He came to show us wisdom.

His Grace is good for any sin. If we repent and believe, we will be forgiven. And if we stumble, we will be forgiven again. Believe, and you will have life.

This wisdom must be sought, surely. But truly to be found, it must be shown to you by God. Any wisdom we can discover on our own is only good for this life. Thank God that He was willing to stoop down to show us something greater.