Wisdom and Understanding

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

Prov 19:8

8 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.

NIV

Well there certainly appears to be a great chasm between knowledge and wisdom. We can spend years acquiring a vast amount of knowledge accumulating facts for the purpose of caring for our bodies. That is we use all that knowledge to produce enough wealth to live in comfort, providing for our physical needs. The acquisition of knowledge may come at a great expense. Degrees awarded by universities are a result of many years of study and the payment of a large sum of money.   Wisdom, on the other hand is free for the asking.  

James 1:4-8

 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

NIV

Wisdom is for the man who loves his soul, not like knowledge which is for the man who loves his body. But it does appear in a sense that wisdom does come at some cost. The cost is absolute belief. Doubt causes the wisdom to be withheld. We cannot be double minded which would translate that we might confuse knowledge with wisdom. We might think as we gain an enormous amount of knowledge that it correlates to wisdom. It was once said, by whom we are not sure, that knowledge in the accumulation of facts and wisdom is the ability to use them. But that is still all about the provision of the body and leaves the soul wanting. True wisdom, which provides for the soul, is to get knowledge, grace and acquaintance with God. When we have a deep relationship with God, he provides us with wisdom. He does not find fault with us as would a professor administering a final exam. The professor finds all our faults and if enough of them fails us. God grants us with wisdom and he does so generously and he is not looking for any faults in us, well except for doubt. If we cherish knowledge we might attain some earthy things, including not just the material, but also acknowledgment, praise from men. But if we cherish wisdom and understanding from God we will prosper. This does not mean we will become wealthy materially, but our spirit, our soul will prosper. We will grow in truth. Our souls will find eternal life. The soul filled only with the knowledge of this world will find just the grave, which leads to perishing.  So we ask God for wisdom and we have no doubt he has bestowed, is bestowing and will continue to bestow us with information about himself and the ability to understand, so that we grow in our relationship with him. The process is never complete, it is a lifelong endeavor. There are no degrees, but there is a graduation ceremony. There are not hard exams or finals, but just a short easy quiz. Have you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior? If we answer in the affirmative, we get our cap and gown. Yes, faith is the key to great wisdom and understanding.