Get Wisdom! (7/28/19 Topical – Proverbs 2)

ATTN: Growing up, my dream was to play baseball in the major leagues. Back then, there was no Korean player who ever played in the major leagues and I wanted to be the first one. Being one of the two best players in the varsity team, I thought I was the hot stuff. But my mom set me aside and said, “I know you are pretty good, but any number of things could happen that could prevent you from achieving your dreams. So, have a backup plan. Study. Get college education!” Well, my senior year, with 4 games left in the season, during the practice I was hit in the eye with the baseball and with it, my baseball career was over. But I went on to college, got my degree, and even though I never achieved my dream of being a major league player, giving myself to studies paved the way for me to become a pastor and teacher. It was my mother’s wisdom that made the difference. 

My plan, at least until the end of the summer, is preach a mini-series on wisdom, particularly from the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiates. As your pastor, my prayer for you is to get wisdom. That is my constant prayer for my children as well. Over the years, I have seen many suffer needlessly because they lack wisdom. And if you think I’m talking about the young people who lack wisdom, that’s not always so. I’ve seen people my age and older lack wisdom and make a mess of themselves and those they love. 

So, the outline for today’s message is: I. Why do we need wisdom? II. What is wisdom? III. How do we get i? 

  1. Why do we need wisdom?
  2. Because it will lead to a happier life. 
  3. 10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11  discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, 12 delivering you from the way of evil. 

As a father, I want my children to be happy. So, I make them do workbooks in the summer. I limit their electronics usage. In other words – discipline, which is a big part of having wisdom –  because I know it will lead to a happier life. Now, we have to understand that proverbs is not a watertight promise. The righteous do not always prosper and the wicked are not always punished. The book of Ecclesiates further delineate these exceptions. But in general, the way God created the world, those who gain wisdom will lead a happier and more fulfilling life than those who do not. Our loving Father is exhorting us to gain wisdom so that it may go well with us.  

  1. Because not everything is spelled out in the Bible. 

One of the most frequent questions I get from the young adults is: What is God’s will for my life? The reason why they ask it is because it’s not spelled out in the Bible. Nobody ever asks me, “Is it wrong to kill someone?” That’s pretty clear from the bible. But questions like, “Should I continue dating this guy or should we break up?” “Should I take this job or that job?” “Is it a good idea to go on the mission trip this year or next?” These are not spelled out in the Bible. So, then how do we determine what’s best? Wisdom!

Romans 12:1-2 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I know it’s frustrating sometimes because we want an easy way to determine God’s will. Like close our eyes and open your bible and see where it lands. But what God is interested in our becoming the type of person who thinks like His Son by having our mind transformed. In other words, by gaining wisdom. So, wisdom helps us understand the way of God.

 

  1. What is it? 

Wisdom: Making sense of the world and conforming to it. Put it another way, having an understanding of how the world works and fitting ourselves into it. This, contrasted with what the current trend is. And that is: Decide what we want and change the world to fit what we want. In other words, wisdom defined in the Bible is that there is ultimate reality that is outside of ourselves. We are a part of that ultimate reality and therefore, our job is to understand how that world works and fit ourselves to it. But the current trend is, there is no such things ultimate reality or objective reality. So, we decide what we want and we change the subjective reality around it fit it, through science or technique. ILL: M.J. in the latest spiderman movie quibs, “You don’t still believe in objective reality, do you?” Well, I imagine asking her at that point, “So, you don’t believe in objective reality?” She says, “I don’t.” Then I say, ‘Is that belief (objectively) real then?” She will have to say, “No,” since she doesn’t believe in objective reality. In other words, she’s denying her own statement. 

A decade ago it was people saying, “I don’t believe in absolute truth. Truth is what we make of it.” Now days, it’s “I don’t believe objective reality. Reality is what we make of it.” Many thousands of years ago in the garden of Eden, it was the serpent saying “There is no such thing as absolute right and wrong. You decide what’s right and wrong.” Do you see the common thread? Its all what WE make of it. it’s the oldest lie in the book just dressed in different clothes. It’s all in the attempt to put human beings at the center of universe, in place of God. So, the reality is what we make of it. The universe simply conforms to our wishes. ILL: So, the male anatomy that I am born with is not who I am. It’s how I feel about myself. Therefore, I will change the objective reality to fit the reality in my mind. I’m at the center! I decide what I will be. The oldest lie in the book! 

But wisdom flies in the face of it because ultimately it doesn’t work. You can believe you are the greatest basketball player on earth, but unless you are willing to put in the practice (objective reality), you will never get good. Wisdom is understanding that we are not at the center of the universe and therefore we do not try to change the reality around us. The scientists are only discovering what’s already there. They are not creating reality, only discovering. We will only hurt ourselves if we ignore this, just like putting water into a gas tank will only hurt the car no matter how much we believed our cars run on water. 

Wisdom, then has its origin in God. You start with God. God is the ultimate, objective reality. He is the absolute truth. He decides right and wrong. That is why the Bible says, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” 

I want to especially address the young people here. Engage your mind. What keeps me in the faith is the Scripture – it’s beauty, wisdom, and timelessness. And my personal experience of God that I can no longer attribute to coincidence. But also, it’s what logic dictates. In the beginning was the word – logos, reason, that’s where we get the word – logia, logic! 

God said, “come let us reason together says the Lord.” So, I want you to engage your mind to think it through. See, if you took God out of the world,  this world does not makes sense. For example, if there is no God, these fundamental questions cannot be answered. And these are questions that humanity had been asking all through history everywhere. 

  1. The question of origin. Where did we come from? Big bang? Where did the materials that caused the big bang come from? It had to be non-material for the simply fact that you cannot cause yourself – therefore material things could not have caused itself. It had to be non-material in the beginning.
  2. The question of morality. What is right and wrong. We have tried to tamper with this one, saying, that there is no such thing as right and wrong. It’s all what we make of it. Again, that argument can so easily be destroyed by asking, “Is that right?” The fact is human beings are born with this sense of right and wrong although how they are displayed are slightly different depending on culture. But no one disputes that sacrificial love is always right. And rape is always wrong. 
  3. The question of meaning. What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What is our purpose? We can disagree on what it is, but no one disagrees that we want to know. The answer, “There is no meaning. The universe has no purpose since it’s a product of random chance,” simply does not satisfy. So much so that if there really is no meaning, we somehow have to give it meaning. So we say things like, “It’s what we make of it!” So, we create our own meaning. But why, if there is no meaning? 
  4. The question of destiny. Where do we go when we die? Is this life all there is or is there more? If there is no afterlife, why do we yearn for it. Why do we use languages like, “rest in peace,” or “she’s in a better place”? C.S. Lewis said “Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth.” in other words,  Humanity’s desire for eternal life throughout ages is a strong indication that we were made for it. Just like if you get thirsty, that’s because you were meant to drink water.

So, wisdom is putting all this knowledge together and understanding that everything starts with God, and finding out how to navigate ourselves in it. 

Then, what does wisdom look like? How is it practiced? I perused through the proverbs and listed several pictures of what wisdom looks like: 

– Works diligently (discipline!) 

– Speaks humbly and truthfully

– Willingly listens to counsel and instruction

– Takes discipline gladly

– Has good sense (common sense)

– Desires good and does good

– Associates with other wise people

– Builds others up rather than tearing down (gossip)

– Has integrity

– Is perceptive

– Is careful before speaking (two ears, one mouth)

– is kind to the poor

– Fears the Lord

 

III. How do we get it? 

  1. Desire it and seek it. 

Proverbs 2:3-5 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. More precious than money is wisdom. More valuable than a college degree is wisdom. There are people who are educated and rich but have no wisdom. They do not understand how the world operates! Sometimes, I think to myself, “In just a few years, all their wealth and accomplishments will be buried 6 feet under. Why can’t they see it? They invest 20, 30 years into the future. Why aren’t they investing 200, 300 years into the future??  Desire wisdom. Want it. And seek it! 

  1. Ask God for it. 
  2. 6. For the Lord gives wisdom. Since it is the Lord who gives wisdom, we get it from him by asking him. In a strange twist, the very fact that we are asking for wisdom shows that we have gotten it. Because humility is pre-requisite for wisdom and the very fact that we are asking shows our humility which means we already got the first portion of it. (I do! “I do not know what to do, God! Give me wisdom!”)
  3. Keep walking in it (paths, walk, not a door)

Wisdom is not a door through which if you entered it, you’ve arrived. It’s more like a path you create by walking on it constantly. V. 7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. 

This is where keeping the company of those who are like-minded, the church, will help. They will help you keep walking in wisdom together with you for a long time. 

  1. By observing the wicked and the good.

Learn from other people’s successes and failures. One of the most foolish things a young person thinks is: “How am I going to learn if I don’t make mistakes?” And they use that as a license to do reckless things. Wisdom is  learning from our own mistakes, sure. But better is to learn from other people’s mistakes. You and I don’t need to experiment with drugs, alcohols or sex to know that they are gonna destroy us eventually. If we had to experiment every one of those things to know they are wrong, then by the time we find out that all those things are bad for us, we will be at the end of our lives! Observe the wicked and good and learn from them! 

  1. From the word of God. 

and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 tim. 3:15

Do you have 15 mins to spare a day? Average reading speed – 200 to 250 words. Let’s say 200 word/min. 15 minutes x 200 = 3000 words/day. The Bible = 783,138 words / 3000 = 261 days. In other words, if you read 15 minutes a day, you could read through the entire Bible in 261 days! Right before dinner, as you are dozing off, spend 15 min in the Bible, and you will have read through it in 9 months!