Wisdom
Wisdom. This is a topic I have heard Christians discuss on many occasions. How does a person make wise decisions? For that matter, how does a Christian make wise decisions? Have you ever thought about what it means to be wise? One of the greatest Old Testament Kings, Solomon, when asked what one thing he wanted from God, replied that he wanted wisdom to rule his kingdom-he wanted discernment to become a better leader (1 Kings 3: 5-9). God left the world His blueprint for life-the Bible. If only we would just read it, study it, and learn how to apply it in our lives we, too can become wiser. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking correcting, and training in righteousness.”
Consider the book of Proverbs, most of which was written by Solomon, arguably the wisest man of all time. He left a personal guide to wise decision making for all of us to read:
“The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom, and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance…” Proverbs 1: 1-6
There are 31 short chapters in Proverbs-perfect for reading one a day. Proverbs isn’t about promises to people but, instead, it gives sayings and direction that will make us better people and decision makers. Proverbs are directed at raising children, settling fights, controlling finances, seeking counsel before making tough choices-there’s something for just about every circumstance we face in life. Learn how to evaluate your decision making process and see if it follows in line with Solomon and other directives in scripture.
Despite his belief in God, Solomon was considered the wisest man of his time-not just the wisest believer of his time. He was world renowned for his knowledge and his faith was not viewed as disqualifying him from being wise (contrasted with today where some might view faith as a crutch). The Queen of Sheba travelled a great distance from her country just to speak and learn from him because his reputation of being a wise and discerning leader had spread far and wide (1 Kings 10:6)-shouldn’t we at least pay attention to the written instructions he left behind?
To become wise we need to follow in the footsteps of wise people-especially wise believers. As Christians we need to demonstrate that there are wise reasons for why believe what we believe and why we act the way we do. Developing confidence in our faith is important so we can stand tall when we speak to others about the hope we have.
If we learn how to make better decisions not only will that benefit us personally, but it will help us all to be better witnesses. Reading a chapter a day of Proverbs and applying the messages it teaches is a great place to start!
I copied the following list regarding the book of Proverbs from my New Living Translation Study Bible-I hope some of you might find it useful as a quick reference guide:
