Wisdom is incredibly valuable.
Like other things of massive worth, one aspect of wisdom’s value lies in its rarity. Demonstrations of utter wisdom in the lives of people are rare indeed.
There are many things that we can inherit. Great wealth, even titles and lands may be dropped into our lap. An incredible employment opportunity might be offered simply on the basis of the business owners’ relationship with a family member or friend. But wisdom will never come to you in any of these ways. Wisdom must be sought in order to be found.
The story is told of a prideful young man who came to Socrates asking for wisdom. The sage brought him to the ocean. While standing neck-deep in water, he asked the man what he truly desired. “I desire wisdom, o wise one,” the man replied. Socrates placed one hand on each of the other man’s shoulders and pushed him under the water, holding him there for about half a minute. When he let the man back up, he repeated his question. “Now what do you want?” “I desire wisdom, o sage of the ages,” was his reply.
Socrates pushed the man’s head under the water. After a minute or so the man began to try and push himself to the surface, but Socrates held him firmly. The struggle continued, and grew more desperate. Just before the young man passed out, Socrates grabbed his hair and pulled him to the surface and demanded, “Now what do you want?”
Coughing and choking, the young man shouted, “AIR !!!!”
Socrates took the man’s face in his hands, and looking him straight in the eyes said, “When you are as determined to get wisdom as you just were to get air – THEN you will find wisdom.”
Another aspect determining wisdom’s value is its source.
One source of wisdom is experience. Theodore Levitt, a professor at Harvard Business School, taught that experience comes from what we have done, but wisdom comes from what we have done badly. The School of Hard Knocks has some very tough classes. It has been said that the truly wise person learns from the mistakes of others. This is the best approach, because no one will live long enough to make them all on their own. An ordinary person learning from only their own experience is going to have limited wisdom indeed. A fool never learns anything from anyone’s experience, whether their own or someone else’s.
But there is a much better source of wisdom than experience. Anyone’s experience. That source is the Holy Spirit of God, also known as the Spirit of Wisdom.
Today’s verse says,
FOR TO ONE IS GIVEN THROUGH THE SPIRIT TO UTTER WORDS OF WISDOM
God’s wisdom is a function of His omniscience, the fact that He knows all things from all time at all times. He knows the past intimately, understands the present fully, and sees the future clearly.
His Spirit and His word are the keys for gaining wisdom and the discipline to apply it to the situations we face. His Spirit gives us insight, and also teaches us to comprehend His words of insight. From Him we receive instruction in wise living
and learn how to walk in righteousness, justice, and equity.
Biblical wisdom is better than much fine gold. Instruction from the Lord is more precious than silver. Nothing on earth is more valuable because it impacts every aspect of who we are and how we live.
The Lord speaks to our hearts and gives wisdom. The scriptures say that from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. To put it simply – God knows what we do not, and He can reveal things to us we cannot possibly otherwise know.
In the second year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar had some dreams that were so bad he was afraid to go back to sleep. So he called all his wise men to come and explain the meaning of his dream. But the king wanted to be sure that his advisors weren’t trying to fool him, so he made a strange demand. He said, “First tell me the dream, and then its interpretation.” Not surprisingly, none of the king’s magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers could explain his dream; so the king ordered that all of the wise men in Babylon should be killed.
That order was to include Daniel, and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; prisoners who had been taken captive from Israel. When the commander of the king’s guard came to execute Daniel, he asked why the king’s order was so harsh and what the issue was. Daniel went to the king and promised to return both with the dream and the interpretation.
Daniel knew that God knew the dream, God knew the interpretation, and God knew Daniel. So Daniel trusted that God would give him the wisdom and insight he needed. And so He did !!
God had revealed the dream and its interpretation to Daniel, and Daniel went in to deliver them to the king. Stop and think about the faith that displays! Daniel had asked God to tell him what another person had dreamed, and also to give him the proper interpretation based upon what God intended to do in the future. Then he went in to speak with the man who had the dream … and the power to kill him on the spot if he was not 100% correct.
Daniel began by telling the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires. BUT there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” Then Daniel proceeded to prove it by telling the detailed dream AND its interpretation. By the time Daniel had finished, the king was so astounded that he dropped onto the floor in front of Daniel to honor him. The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” Then he promoted Daniel to be his second in command over all of Babylon.
FOR TO ONE IS GIVEN THROUGH THE SPIRIT TO UTTER WORDS OF WISDOM
God still knows everything. God still loves His children. And God still speaks.
We need His utter wisdom in order to be able to utter His wisdom. We must listen to His Spirit, speak what He reveals and trust Him to watch over His word to perform it.
We live in a world drowning in information while there is a drought of wisdom. We desperately need people who will decide to love God, to serve God and to trust God. And to do so today.
Like the wise men of Babylon, we are all under threat of death. We all need to hear the wise words of God to reveal the next steps to us. The right time to seek God is now.
Someone once said that there are seven days in a week, and “someday” isn’t one of them. That’s wisdom!
“Someday” is not the right day to seek God. TODAY is !!
FOR TO ONE IS GIVEN THROUGH THE SPIRIT TO UTTER WORDS OF WISDOM
