Let’s talk about being wise. A couple weeks ago I told you about a study in Proverbs I’ve been leading locally. I shared the intro to Inductive Bible Study at that time too. And lemme tell you. I’m loving every minute of it. Seriously, I’m finding it so fun! To me there’s nothing better than learning something new that will kick start my passion for Bible study all over again.
It’s been a while since I led a study and it is so fun, and such a privilege to go through Proverbs with a group of smart, interesting, women who aren’t put off my by geeky nature. Even though every week I’m always a little nervous people are leaving more confused than when they came! (But that’s something I just have to give over to God, right?)
Anyway, I’ll get to the point. I promise, there is a point. Week after week I keep coming back to a truth that stood out to me in the first lesson. I can’t shake it and I can’t hold it in any longer. So…Here’s the nugget that I’ve been holding onto for weeks now:
Wisdom is for everyone.
Sounds simple. I know. But really, let this sink in.
As I prepared for the first lesson I did some meditating on wisdom, because that’s what the Proverbs are: wisdom. Wisdom for living. Wisdom God felt so strongly about, He inspired it and put it in THE BOOK. (AKA the Bible.)
I sat in the rare quiet, after prayer and tried to picture wisdom. If I had to personify wisdom, what would it look like? Here’s what I came up with.
Yep. That’s Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World. (image via)
Yep, I used this example in my initial presentation. Yep–it only resonated with a handful of people. And yep, it was at that moment they all realized what a weirdy they had teaching.
Mr. Feeny came to mind because well, first of all, he looks the part. Older man, gray hair, glasses, kind of an Owl (from Winnie the Pooh) look about him. Second, his character was full of wise advice. Third, he passed that advice on with patience and tact to Cory Matthews and company. There are other reasons too, but you get the idea.
If you’ve never seen the show, I’m not telling you to go binge watch it now (although it was one of my faves growing up.) And you don’t have to know the show to understand the point I’m going to make. Again, I promise, there’s a point.
So that is who I pictured. It’s telling of my own presumptions about wisdom, even though I’m a Bible geek and I have read the Proverbs before! Somewhere deep in my heart I had an image of wisdom that looked like Mr. Feeny. And the image isn’t accurate at all.
Proverbs one clearly tells us that wisdom is for everyone.
We don’t have to wait until we are old and mustached to be wise. Wisdom isn’t something that we can only enjoy at the end of our days, just in time to pass it down to the kid next door, fingers crossed he’ll learn from our mistakes and experiences. Yes, experience aids wisdom–but God tells us, experience is not the core of wisdom. Anyone can be wise, at any time.
Let me prove it. Here’s Proverbs 1:1-7. {Emphasis mine.}
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.b]7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but foolsc] despise wisdom and instruction.
In this intro to Proverbs, Solomon lays out the intent of his writings. For gaining wisdom, instruction, and understanding. Then he tells us who wisdom is for. And he doesn’t once say a mustache or a minimum age is required. (Phew!)
Instead, he tells us that wisdom is for everyone. (I’m going to say that a lot. Really, let that joyful news sink in.) The simple and young are listed recipients as well as the wise and discerning.
If we look at the original Hebrew words in this passage we can gain an even better understanding by expanding our understanding of its meaning. I’ve linked up some key words to their Hebrew lexicon over on Blue Letter Bible for your reference.
Verse 4 says prudence will be given to the simple–this can be seen as cleverness to the foolish or naive. In the same verse knowledge has a deeper meaning of wisdom, perception, discernment. Simply stated, even the young have access to wisdom that we may conceive as “beyond their years.”
For those that are already seasoned with wisdom and discretion, more can be obtained.
It’s good news across the board.
Wisdom is for everyone.
But, as we see in verse 7–it starts with the fear (more understandable in our language as reverence) of the Lord. Anyone can have wisdom, but first we must put God, the creator, and giver of wisdom in the proper place in our lives. From there, things become easy(ish).
Proverbs 4:7a says
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get {acquire} wisdom!
Get it. Acquire it. No one can do this part for you. You must acquire it on your own. The proverbs even tell you how. And this instruction is in so many places I’ll summarize and leave you with a list if you want to spend a little time looking it up.
Get wisdom, by following the Lord’s commandments, His ways, His teachings, His instruction.
Wondering what the commands and teachings are? Here’s a good start!
If you are teachable, if you want wisdom you can have it. Anyone. Anywhere. At any place in their life. Young, naive, smart, foolish, knowledgable, wise. Wisdom is for all of us, and it pleases God when we seek wisdom and ask Him for His wisdom.
It’s for all of us. It’s a gift. Just remember where it comes from.
For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Prov 2:6)
For more on how to get wisdom here are a few references I’ve read recently. **This is not an extensive list!**
Amy
PS–On another note about how wrong my personal personification of wisdom was…God often personifies wisdom as a woman. (Which, again…I’ve read a thousand times!!) So…tonight, if you are a girl reading this, let’s all take comfort in God’s high opinion of His fairer sex.
