The Wisdom that Works
Proverbs 1:7 Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the LORD, but stubborn fools hate wisdom and refuse to learn.
At some point we all exhibit that rather ugly quality of stubbornness. We just do. The tragic thing about persistent, continual stubbornness is though, that it keeps us stupid. Really!
I don’t think there’s one person on this planet who doesn’t want to have some more wisdom. I mean wisdom’s a good thing – right? So why aren’t we all a whole bunch wiser than we are? Answer: because wisdom involves sacrifice. The dictionary definition of wisdom is this:
having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; and the soundness of an action or decision by applying this experience and knowledge, and good judgment.
Boil that down and there are two parts: knowing what to do and then actually doing it. And therein lies the problem. We’re all happy to have a bit of a theory lesson, but when it gets to putting that wisdom into action we discover that wisdom has a cost. And that, that’s where our stubbornness cuts in. “I’m not going to do that! What, are you kidding me?!”
That stubbornness stops us from entering into God’s wisdom. That stubbornness, brought on by not wanting to make the sacrifices that wisdom demands, frankly, is what stops us from growing. It keeps us, to put it bluntly, stupid.
King Solomon is regarded as one of the wisest men to walk the earth. This is how he puts it:
Proverbs 1:7 Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the LORD, but stubborn fools hate wisdom and refuse to learn.
So, according to King Solomon, the beginning of wisdom is fear and respect for the Lord. But a whole bunch of people don’t want to hear that. They don’t want to make that sacrifice. So, they keep on making the same mistakes, over and over and over again.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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