Proverbs 3:13-18
Wisdom and understanding — what could be better? Not silver. Not gold. Not jewels. Nothing you desire. She offers long life, riches, honor, pleasantness, and peace. Seriously, what could be better? Only God Himself.
I am left having to ask myself some hard questions. How do I honestly regard wisdom? Do I really think she is worth pursuing? Do I actually seek her out? Do I spend more than a few minutes a day searching diligently for her? Really? Do I?
How about you?
Good questions you’re asking, John; “Do I seek her out?” Or re-stated; “Where do I look for wisdom?”
I have found wisdom when in groups with others, i.e., small groups. I never seem to ask myself the right questions, nor can I go deep enough with my own questioning. For me, it always takes the prompting of someone else to trigger the deeper thought process. Someone in the small group always seems to ask a deeper, more thought provoking question. The caveat is you must trust those in your group and be willing to expose yourself and be vulnerable to open up for the wisdom to “sink in”.
How right you are regarding the need for input from others! See Pr. 11:14 and Pr. 24:6. You mentioned one caveat. Another is to choose those others well…
I don’t know about “wisdom”, but everything else in today’s reading – in my life – points to Jesus. That is, from the point where I asked Jesus into my life in May 1975, everything else in these verses rings true. Wealth has never been as important as knowing Him; beauty (“jewels”) I see all around me; nothing that I have ever desired would have been worth giving up Jesus; and long life (thus far) has been granted to me. I might suggest that “wisdom”, for Christians, is knowing Jesus.
Like I said: Only God Himself.