We all face a world everyday where there are too many choices. Too many options. Too many factors. Too many risks. Too little money. And too little time. It’s hard to know what to do some days. We may think that what we need is a little more time. Or a little more money. (Okay, maybe a lot more!) We’d like fewer risks, fewer decisions. Fewer problems. But what we really need is wisdom.
You will be glad to know that when stock market plummeted recently the price of wisdom was not affected. This is because in the estimation of the world it is worth far less than oil, gold, commodities, or fashions. We’ll pay millions for top athletes, or celebrity gossip photos, or secret political papers. But wisdom…? Students are willing to pay thousands in order to get a university education, pack their heads with information, and hang a diploma on their wall. But there isn’t a single course offered in wisdom. Doesn’t seem like anyone really wants it. For a thousand years the largest cathedral in Europe, the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) is now just a museum. William Blake wrote, “Wisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buy.”
Yet the Bible says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom”. Proverbs goes on to say, “her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.” And like Blake, the author of Proverbs claims that wisdom can easily be found by anyone who seeks, calling out in the market and on every street corner. James 1:5 says that all the wisdom you could ever need can be had just for the asking. Wisdom it seems, despite its immeasurable value, is free to whoever wants it.
Stupidity, on the other hand, will eventually cost you everything. Without wisdom we just can’t know the right thing to do, we follow the wrong priorities, and our timing is usually off. Makes life a bit like trying to traverse a minefield without a map. It’s nothing short of a recipe for total disaster. (A good description of many people’s lives!) And as antithetical as it sounds, many highly educated and intelligent people seem completely devoid of wisdom. They know everything except the ‘right’ thing.
This shows us that wisdom has nothing to do with education or IQ. Knowing what is ‘right’ is really a heart thing – a moral or spiritual capacity. That is why the Bible teaches that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Wisdom comes to us from God, through the agency of the Holy Spirit. It’s just simply not available to those whose minds are clouded with pride, whose ears are stopped with rebellion, and whose heart is already filled with the lusts of other things. Wisdom prefers the company of the humble hearted, those who truly want to do what is ‘right.’
