Life Goals: Attaining Wisdom

Last week we discussed the foundation of wisdom. The foundation of wisdom, we found, was trusting God. Only those who have trusted in Christ have this foundation upon which wisdom can be built. Getting the foundation right is of massive importance.

When you build a house you don’t just want the foundation. The same is true with wisdom. When you are in the process of building your life you don’t want only the foundation. You want the wisdom that is built upon that foundation of trusting Christ.

Dan Phillips, in his book “God’s Wisdom in Proverbs”, asks an interesting and thought provoking question that does not seem to pertain to the point at hand. The question that he asks is “How do you get bread?” Interestingly, this question is much more complex than it sounds. Think for a moment, “How do you get bread?” What does Scripture have to say about your getting bread? Using different Scripture passages, you could get different answers.

One person might say, we pray for bread. Jesus tells us to pray for it in Matthew 6:11. So, some may say that you pray for it. Another might look at 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and say, we work for it. It’s not praying for it, it is working for it that gets us bread.

To all of this we look and sensibly say that it is both. How do you get bread? You pray for it and work for it. God works through the means of our work to answer our prayers. In the words of Dan Phillips.,

“We have no problem recognizing, in this area, that God works through means. He does not simply materialize bread, deposit it on our tongue, start us chewing, then tamp it down into our tummies. He gives us abilities, opportunities for gainful work, and commands us to get out and do our part to acquire what He provides.”—Dan Phillips, God’s Wisdom In Proverbs, p. 108

God has provided wisdom for us to attain. It is found in His Word. How then do we get this wisdom?

We get it by receiving and treasuring God’s Word.

Read Proverbs 2:1-6.

Receive and treasure God’s Word. 

It may not seem like it, but this is about our attitude toward what God has to say.

““1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding”;

Think about every time that a superhero tries to talk sense into the villain: Batman to the Joker, Superman to Lex Luther. Do they listen? Have they made their ear attentive to hear what their enemy has to say? Are they receiving the words of the hero? No. They do not. In fact, you’ll find very quickly that the exact opposite is true.

On the flip side of that consider Superman in the Fortress of Solitude. How does he respond to the words of his parents? At the Fortress of Solitude Superman learned who he was and who his parents were. He was told of how he was to protect the Earth. Do you think that Superman received the words from his parents’ memory? Did he make his ear attentive to the wisdom of his parents? Did he treasure up the words of his parents? Of course he did.

This is about our attitude toward God. If we trust God then we will trust His Word. If we believe that His Word is a treasure because God has given it to us then our attitude will not be one of indifference. If this is the case then we will work toward attaining wisdom.

Solomon says here to “treasure up” God’s Word. It is precious. God did not God did not have to disclose to us anything about Himself. He could have left us guessing about His nature. He could have left us in the dark concerning who He was and what He has done. He could have stayed away and left nothing for us. But since He has given us His Word to disclose Himself to us then we should treasure it.

It is also in God’s Word that He reveals to us His great love for us in the gospel. Without God’s Word we can’t know that God sent His Son to live a perfect life on our behalf and die the death that we owed so that we could be made right with God. We also would not know that we are to respond to this great salvation with repentance and faith. That is turning from sin and turning to Christ. We are no longer our own ruler and boss but we are trusting in the One who has accomplished our salvation for us.

These things should change our attitude. Our attitude toward God’s Word, knowing that God has revealed Himself to us and His great salvation through His Word, is looking at it as a glorious treasure. And when we believe God’s Word is a treasure then we will listen to what God says to us in it.

Solomon then moves on to say “make your ear attentive”. That is, be a person who cares about what God has said. Be captivated by God’s Word. He has given it to us so that we can know about who He is and what He has done. It is important for us to make ourselves attentive to His Word.

These attitudes have definite applications to our lives. These attitudes have definite applications to our lives. A person who thinks of God’s Word as a treasure and is attentive to what God has to say will likely change their lives to match what they believe. They will be people who read God’s Word and try to understand it. They will be people who pay attention to what God is saying through His Word delivered by those teaching and preaching God’s Word. The person who is truly wanting to attain wisdom will be a person who loves God’s Word and turns their self to reading, hearing, and knowing what God has said.

A change in attitude is not the only thing Solomon says that we need to do to attain wisdom. He says that we should also pray for wisdom.

We Pray for Wisdom (V. 3, 5-6)

Remember back to the question, “How do you get bread?”. The answer was through prayer and work. We see much of the same thing here. First, we see that we pray for wisdom. The thing to notice is our attitude and how we behave because of that attitude.

Notice the progression. We should desire wisdom and have an attitude that is inclined to hear wisdom. This desire of wisdom should not be small. We should have a deep longing and heartfelt desire for God to give wisdom (V. 3). Notice verse 3. It is a description of what true prayer is. I did not want to say pray for wisdom without an explanation because that does not seem to get at the type of angst and longing that is found in this passage.

As I think through this passage, I become convinced that the reason for many Christians being foolish today is because of their lack of earnest prayer. This is so much more than just asking God to give us wisdom flippantly, it is a deep longing. Notice the words used here. “call out….raise your voice” (NASB, ESV).This is much more than a repetitious phrase. This is like the lady who just won’t give up in Jesus’ Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8). She just won’t give up until she gets justice. This is desperately crying out for God to give what we cannot get without Him.

Notice how things come together here. We treasure God’s Word and we desire it strongly, so we beg and plead with God for Him to give it to us. Consider what Superman does when his understanding is insufficient. When it seems that he will be destroyed, he heads off to the Fortress of Solitude to commune with the memories of his relatives. We do something much more glorious. We commune with the Triune God and plead with Him for wisdom…and He gives it.

James delivers this same message to his readers years after the death of his brother Jesus.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”—James 1:15 ESV

If you want wisdom then you must ask, but you don’t just ask and sit waiting for the answer. You work.

We Become Students (V.v. 4-5)

When we come to faith in Christ we are called disciples. A disciple is primarily a learner. Throughout the entirety of our lives we are to be learners. We continually learn the ways of Christ. We continually learn about our glorious God. We continually learn about who He is and what He has done for us. We are learners and not for a short time, but this is lifelong.

Solomon has been building upon everything he has discussed. First our attitude toward God’s Word is that it is a glorious treasure. Then, we are to pray for this thing we now desire. And here, we see that we are to seek this that we so long for.

This is not a mindless, workless activity. God’s wisdom is treasure and we are to seek it as such. This is going through the labor of reading, pondering, and praying through God’s Word. This is rigorous study of God’s Word. “Seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure.” I will tell you from firsthand experience; this is no walk in the park. It is not easy to get wisdom. We become students who strongly desire the wisdom that only God can give and we seek it throughout our whole lives.

Iron Man is who he is because of his inquisitiveness and intelligence. He does not have superpowers. In fact, he has a super weakness right in the middle of his chest. Yet, the thing that makes him unique and standing alongside Captain America, Thor, and Hulk is his thirst for knowledge. He is always trying to improve what he knows and then apply it by making something new. That sometimes gets him into trouble and has created an entire robot army that nearly killed him and the other Avengers, but his quest for learning and knowledge, his constant being a student made him Iron Man. Iron Man gets a great return for his labor, but we get even better.

What is the end result? You will “understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God”. That is astounding. The great treasure that we seek will be found by us if we pray and seek it. Again, how do you get bread? How do you get wisdom?

Our work pays off. God gives to us the wisdom that we desire. That which we know is worth more than anything else of Earth “knowing God” is given to those who prayerfully seek God. We find the knowledge of God as God gives it to us. It is something that we receive from His hand.

Conclusion

God has given us His Word. It is a glorious treasure that He did not have to give us. And we love this treasure and incline ourselves to hear from God. So, we seek wisdom from His Word like the treasure that it is. The problem is that we do not find wisdom from just our work. It has to be given to us. We have to be given wisdom and understanding from above.

If you are a believer reading this post, I hope you now answer the question, “How do you get wisdom?” much like you would answer the question “How do you get bread?” Our approach to both is to desperately pray for God to give it to us while also working for it.

If you are not a believer then you must know that you are missing the foundation which is trust in Christ. All your seeking of knowledge will be helpful, but in the end without faith in Christ will crumble. Trust in Him.

R. Dwain Minor