1 Samuel 1-2:11; Proverbs 5:1-6:19

READ: 1 Samuel 1-2:11; Proverbs 5:1-6:19 

PASSAGE FOR REFLECTION: PROVERBS 4:7 (Sunday's Reading)

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

    and whatever you get, get insight.

REFLECT

"The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom". This is a ridiculously self-evident statement, so self-evident that it can easily be overlooked. Imagine paying a large sum of money to attend a high-profile seminar to learn about how to make wise decisions. And to learn, after a full day of lectures, that the way to be wise is to get wisdom. I'd call it a scam! 

Yet this self-evident statement is full of truths - largely the truth that we do not really want wisdom, much as we say we do. Allow me to point out several observations that show that perhaps we are less interested in "getting wisdom" than we claim to be.

First, we are more eager to show off how wise we are, than to seek wisdom. The New Testament writer James urges his readers to "be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1:19). The implication here is that we are less interested in listening to others, to learn from them or to understand their points of view. Rather, we would prefer to tell our listeners what we know and to dispense our own wisdom to our listeners. We thus display our disinterest in learning from others or of understanding them.

Second, we are often more eager to find solutions to our problems and challenges than to understand why we even want to solve the problem in the first place. Let me illustrate. Many self-help books teach us ways to get rich and help to trouble shoot as to why we have not become wealthy. We begin with the assumption that getting rich is always good. And so we begin with the question of how to get rich or how to avoid the pitfalls that keep us from making lots of money, instead of first asking why we want to get rich. I am not saying that being rich is wrong. But we need to first ask how being rich relates to us having an abundant life. And to ask if being wealthy is always good for us in the long term. If we begin with the assumption that being wealthy is always good for us, then we have already dismissed God's offer to be wise. We end up spending most of our lives pursuing something that has little value in truly enriching our lives.

Or to take another example that is related to my work. We are often very concerned about whether our church numbers are growing or not, and whether the weekly offerings and pledges are 'healthy' or not. Often this becomes such a preoccupation that much of our time and energy is spent 'extending our tents and enlarging our coffers'. If we do not ask why we want our numbers and our finances to swell, we risk becoming a business enterprise and end up simply marketing our church to gain more members and money without being of any good to God, or others, or even ourselves. Or worse, we adopt the ways of the world. James' admonition to us is very timely: "...if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:14-18)

RELATE

How then do we get wisdom and insight?

First, acknowledge that we have very little of it and ask God for wisdom. James 1:5 tells us, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." The first step to getting wisdom is to acknowledge our lack, and to ask God for it. Paul in 1 Corinthians 8:2 tells us, "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know." The apostle Paul is pointing out the irony that whenever we think we know, that is evidence that we do not know it. This is a very important truth: often our accumulation of knowledge, whether of the Bible or of any other skill or trade deceives us into thinking that we have wisdom. But knowledge, and I would propose even knowledge of the bible, puffs up. Wisdom on the other hand, does not necessarily come from much knowledge, though it does involve having knowledge. The first step to gaining wisdom is to recognise that even with all the knowledge in the world, we are unwise, and need God to make us wise.

Second, when we adopt the attitude that we do not have wisdom, and after asking God for it, we begin to see that God can give wisdom from various sources. Of course we start with the Bible. When I said earlier that even knowledge of the Bible can puff us up and deceive us into thinking that we are wise, I did not mean that we do not draw wisdom from the Bible. I wanted to highlight the fact that Biblical knowledge per se is not wisdom. Even the devil has extensive knowledge of the Bible. But God uses Biblical truths to give us wisdom. Having learned truths from the Bible, we need to ask God to bring these truths into practice and into our hearts. God also often uses simple people to give us profound wisdom. We should never despise the wisdom of the simple or the poor or the disenfranchised. Much of my understanding of life and of God has come from listening to persons who in the eyes of the world have failed. "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." (1Corinthians 1:27-29).

Third, unlike knowledge, wisdom is not gained in a day; rather it is developed as a lifestyle over the years. We can now find answers to many life challenges at the snap of our fingers, or the click on our computer keyboards. These inventions of artificial intelligence help us daily in solving simple problems. But they do not teach us attitudes and perspectives on how to live our lives well. As often as we seek answers to daily challenges, we need to ask God to teach us how to daily live. We develop habits and attitudes that are wise, that should guide our actions everyday. As quoted from James earlier, such wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Such wisdom is a lifestyle that is grown and nurtured over our entire lives.

REST

Father, please make us wise. I acknowledge that many of the choices I make everyday concerning how I live are foolish and do not lead to life. Help me to develop a lifestyle that is guided by wisdom that comes from you. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.

CML