We all need wisdom. We need the quality of “showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment.” Oxford English Dictionary.
Our world offers many sources of wisdom. You can find knowledge and hear of the experiences of others easily. Just go online and search for it, and page after page of opinions will be displayed before you all offering knowledge.
Good judgment on the other hand, is much harder to find. Thankfully, we don’t have to search very far for true wisdom. God inspired Solomon to record the Proverbs as v. 2-7 say:
“To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. ”
God wanted us to know wisdom. He desires us to have good judgment based upon His knowledge and experience. Here, He reveals that as His purpose in inspiring Proverbs.
Notice where it all begins. v. 7 says “the fear of the Lord” is the starting place for wisdom. The word fear means reverence, a state of piety and respect toward a superior. We must respect God as our superior and him Him in reverence. In other words, wisdom begins to grow in our lives when we have deep respect for our heavenly Father and recognize Him is our Superior in all things. This attitude puts us in the right frame of mind to begin to receive His wisdom.
Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Pr 1:2–7). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Ramblings by James 