Seeking wisdom

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SEEKING WISDOM

Prov 29:3

3 A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.

NIV

There is certainly something to be said about this in an earthly or worldly manner, but that would have to be from the perspective of having a father of good character. There might well be human fathers who care not about what their son does, or for that matter encourage them toward evil rather than righteousness. The whole truth of this proverb is dependent on the character of the father and the amount of wealth he has. So then we are left with no other means to see the truth here then to know the father here is our Heavenly Father. He would truly be joyful if we were to ask him for wisdom. We merely have to consider Solomon in his request for wisdom as an example of what joy he brought to the Father. He was so filled with joy over Solomon’s request he not only gave him much wisdom, but also a great deal of wealth.

1 Kings 3:4-15

 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." 6 Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for — both riches and honor — so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life." 15 Then Solomon awoke — and he realized it had been a dream.

NIV

So we see what truly pleases the Father. We should use this as our own request, rather than to ask for his provision for our daily bread, although that does not displease him either. But when we are always about our need the things of the world which include food, clothes and housing, our prayer is always about us. Could that be in some sense squandering the potential wealth that could be ours on prostitutes? That is if we are so focused or concerned about the state of our affairs in the here and now, could it be like committing adultery with the world? But if we seek first his kingdom, his wisdom, his righteousness, putting that at the forefront of our prayer, it would seem the Father would be greatly pleased and filled with joy over our request. In fact he assures us that if we seek his wisdom above all else he will also add all the temporal needs of this life. Just as he did for Solomon, so he would do for us. Of course this seeking his wisdom must be from a pure, single-minded heart. We cannot ask for wisdom, looking for the result of riches. We must seek God simply for the reason of knowing him more and seeking his wisdom and that alone. Let us not be a companion of this world, but rather a child of the Father, a friend of Jesus, a co-heir with Jesus and let us focus our heart on him, seeking wisdom and guidance from God. He will take care of the rest.