Focus: Wisdom For Life

Text: Ps.111:10

"The fear of the LORD is the BEGINNING of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."

Our text implies that the wisdom of God is rooted in the fear of God. The fear of God is the genesis or the first principle of wisdom. Every step of the way, the fear of the Lord comes first in decision-making and in action-steps. The fear or honor of God is the bedrock on which the wisdom of God rests. In the school of wisdom the fear of God serves as the foundation class. True wisdom begins with God and His honor. We are truly acting in wisdom when we develop or cultivate the habit that dreads offending God and desires pleasing Him. Anywhere you see wisdom that is bereft of respect for God and that is opposed to living life by His standards, know for sure that you are really looking at abnormal wisdom in display.

*The Poor Wise Man

A wise preacher tells us about a city and a certain poor man who lived in it. He says, "Now there was found in it a POOR WISE MAN, and he by his WISDOM delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man" (Ecl.9:15). You can be wise and poor at the same time. If a poor man is not industrious and diligent in business his wisdom will not guarantee or translate into wealth. The poor man delivered the city in which he lived from being destroyed, subjugated or conquered, but he was unable to apply the same wisdom to his own material and physical condition. Your wisdom can work for others, but if you fail to apply it to yourself it will not work for you.

*The Rich Fool

The Lord Jesus Christ tells a parable of the Rich Fool, who was confronted by God for his stupidity. God says to him, "THOU FOOL, this night thy soul shall be required of thee…" (Lk.12:20). In verse 16, this fool is described as a rich man. So here you have the rich fool. One lesson from this parable is that a person can be wealthy and unwise at the same time. It means that being wealthy is not always a sign of wisdom. Having money is not the same thing as being wise. God-deficient wisdom can put wealth into your hands, but it does not guarantee moral wealth - sanity of mind and sanctity of life. 

You cannot have true riches without the wisdom of God. People who trust in uncertain riches lack the wisdom of God. Those who lay up treasures to themselves are not rich toward God. They lack divine wisdom. In truth, poverty is a problem of which wealth is not the answer. The man who excludes or trivializes God in his life, who relies on himself, who only thinks of himself, who sees no one else but himself, who only plans, works and lives for himself, and who has little or no room for others, is essentially a moron.

The psalmist says that "the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…" (Ps.14:1). This foolishness is a belief system that dismisses God from one's life. It is a belief that is rooted in and stems from the heart. It is belief that manifests itself in one's behavior, for the psalmist says of this kind of fools, "They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good" (Ps.14:1). At the very core of their religion is irreligion, humanism or secularism. They lead lives that exclude God. To them, God is not a big deal - not a factor to be seriously considered. They see God as irrelevant and antiquated. They are morally bankrupt and ethical infants. The word 'heart' refers to an act of will, and it is this will that forms the character, which becomes eventually or ultimately corrupt. You can see what is in their hearts through their acts and attitudes. Their life displays what is in their hearts.

*Visibility of wisdom

Wisdom is a down-to-earth thing. It is something concrete, not abstract. It touches every aspect of human life and enterprise. We read of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Jerusalem. She came not for tourism, but to learn of Solomon's wisdom. The Scripture says, "AND when the queen of Sheba had SEEN the wisdom of Solomon, AND the house that he had built, AND the meat of his table, AND the sitting of his servants, AND the attendance of his ministers, AND their apparel; his cupbearers also, AND their apparel; AND his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her… HAPPY are thy men, and HAPPY are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom. BLESSED be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice" (2Chron.9:3,4,7-8). 

Solomon's wisdom was very visible and tangible for all to see and hold. The Queen of Sheba SAW Solomon's wisdom through his accomplishments - his works, the order of his house, his administrative set up, his leadership qualities and managerial skills, the comportment and demeanor of his entire cabinet and workforce, his menu and table manners, and his life of worship to God. In other words, people see your wisdom by your words, by your walk and by your work. The life you live says it all about you - your wisdom or your foolishness. The psalmist says to God, "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches" (Ps.104:24).

Wisdom forms and transforms one's attitudes, character and conduct.

*Wisdom personified

Paul tells us that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God, and that in Him "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (1Cor.1:24; Col.2:3). He is the embodiment and total sum of wisdom. Jesus Christ is wisdom personified. Also, God has given the church of Christ the mandate to make known "the manifold wisdom of God" to "the principalities and powers in heavenly places" (Eph.3:10). We are custodians and conveyors of divine wisdom.

*Acronym for wisdom

Please take seriously this acronym of what wisdom truly means! Biblical WISDOM means:

*Working and walking with God

*Integrating work and worship into an organic and holy whole

*Serving God's humanity

*Doing God's will

*Obeying God's word

*Maximizing God's time

That is true wisdom!

*Prayer for wisdom

Solomon asked God for wisdom, and today we are all in need of wisdom. James says we could ask God for wisdom if we lacked it. Solomon says, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding" (Prov.4:7). If wisdom is not part of our possession, all we possess amounts to nothing. Wisdom is fundamental to human existence even in this senseless world.

I pray for you using Paul's words. I ask "that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col.1:9). Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter