Wisdom - Get It; Understand It; Do It; Give It Away

1      The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

         2      for attaining wisdom and discipline;
         for understanding words of insight;
         3      for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,
         doing what is right and just and fair;
         4      for giving prudence to the 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.

         7      The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
         but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  (Proverbs 1:1–7 NIV).

Having spent over 12 years in higher education in my life, I've known some very intelligent people. What I've come to discover with increasing frequency is that there seems to be absolutely no connection between a person's IQ and their CSQ. What's a CSQ? Your common sense quotient.

Proverbs was written for the purpose of guiding young leaders to apply their knowledge to everyday matters of living and leading. The themes found in the book are as numerous as the issues of life. The insight is timeless. The relevancy is stunning.

Nestled in the first seven verses are the expressed purposes of the book:

• Attaining wisdom and discipline
• Understanding words of insight
• Acquiring a disciplined and prudent life
• Doing what is right, just, and fair
• Giving prudence to the simple
• Giving knowledge and discretion to the young
• Aiding wise and discerning people in adding to their insight

Notice the parallel thoughts: attain/acquire and understand/do. Proverbs makes it clear: it is not enough to amass insight; you have to use it and apply it. We do not fully understand a truth until we act on it. What's more, we aren't supposed to hoard insight; we are supposed to give it away.

I have a friend who says, "You live the experience to teach the experience." Never was this more true than with the wisdom of God expressed in Proverbs. All of us have people in our lives who need guidance in determining the right course of action in a particular area of life. Whether a person is young or just inexperienced in an area of life, they will find Proverbs to be the Powerball of insight.

So where does the journey begin? The first step is clear: live your life in reverence to God. When we live in reverence and humility before God we are basically admitting, "I'm not smart enough, capable enough, or strong enough on my own. I need God's help."

Psalm 14:1 reminds us that "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" A fool is a person who not only chooses to reject the overwhelming evidence for the existence of God, but the fools proceeds to reject the notion that such a God would have any interest in giving us understanding about how life works and the discipline (training) to walk it out.

I saw the funniest billboard promoting health screening the other day that said, "This year, thousands of men will die of stubbornness." The statement is also true of the thousands of people who will drive their lives off of a cliff because they refuse to acknowledge God and the wisdom for life that is offered to us.

Take a few moments and ask God to refresh your hunger for the wisdom that the Lord is offering us through the book of Proverbs. Commit in the coming days to growing in your capacity to understand and live out God's timeless insights for our lives.