Getting Wisdom
Wisdom is something everyone would like to have but few possess. That is partly true because it involves hard work and learning from our mistakes. Still, it is a worthy goal. There are some steps we can take to begin getting wisdom.
Those who would have wisdom must seek it through prayer. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5; Psalm 119:18). Most of us understand that asking God for food does not eliminate the need for work (Matthew 6:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). Neither does asking God for wisdom eliminate the need for work. Two things are included in that work.
First, go to the source to have wisdom. The wise man spoke about the search for wisdom, likening it to the search for treasure. He pointed to its source when he said, “For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:3-6). The Psalmist declared, “You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me” (Psalm 119:98).
Second, recognize wisdom is acquired through self-exertion in the form of study. The wise man instructed his son, “So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2). The blessed man is the one whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). Paul told Timothy to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Resolve today to get wisdom. Pray about it. Go to God, not men, to find it. Make reading and thinking on the Bible a daily habit.
Gary Hampton