Wisdom

My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.

Proverbs 4:20-22

SOME TIME AGO, a long article was published in a significant liberal magazine about the search for wisdom in today’s world. It spoke of a certain professor’s journey as she sought to find what real wisdom is. She studied religious texts, interviewed people young and old, and read the works of philosophers galore. She even gave Solomon’s proverbs a scan.

The crazy thing is how even a definition of wisdom eluded her. No one seemed to know precisely what it is. Knowledge? The ability to think through a situation or problem? Intelligence? Something only the elite could fathom? Then why are so many people considered wise who have little education and have read very few books?

One has to look only a few pages into the book of Proverbs to find some ideas about what wisdom does. As Solomon says above, it brings life to those who listen to wise people. Wisdom heals the whole body. A seminary professor used to define wisdom as “skill for living.” The wise person, like a master craftsman, has a tremendous skill for living well and solving problems, rising above them to reach success, influence, and accomplishment.

The world doesn’t get it, but the Christian does. Do you want skill for living? Do you want to know how to live well? Then study the words of people like Solomon as well as those of Jesus, Paul, Moses, Malachi, and many others. You will find life and healing in them. Guaranteed.