Retaining Wisdom
In Proverbs chapter four, Solomon is writing to his son. He tells him to give attention to know understanding, which is another way to say “listen up.” He tells him, I give you good doctrine, or advice, as we might say. In verses 3 and 4, he talks about the wisdom his father gave to him, which he kept with him. Wisdom isn’t something that should go in one ear and out the other. To gain wisdom you have to think about what is being said, read about it, or study it. One thing my papaw Gary taught me was to always think before saying or doing something. Think about the way your words or actions could make a person feel. If it is a positive thing, how could it help them? If it is negative, how could it hurt them? I was only five years old when he taught me that, but it has stuck with me since, and I don’t think I will ever forget it. This is something Solomon wants his son to keep. Verse 7 says, “wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and in all your getting, get understanding.” This means that if we receive wisdom and think about it or study it, in the end we will gain a little bit of understanding. Verses 8 and 9 refer to wisdom as a woman. It talks about the good things wisdom will bring you. If we skip down to verse 21, Solomon, talking about keeping wisdom, says, “keep them in the midst of your heart.”
For the rest of this study, I want to focus on examples of wisdom. Let’s consider three situations in which wisdom will help you. (1) You are about to get really mad at your mom, dad, or someone you love. Lucky for you, you remember Ephesians 6:1-3. Let’s look at the last half of verse 3. You already help yourself by not saying things you don’t mean, but in the last half of verse 3 it states, “you may live long on the earth.” I think this means that people you love do many things for you, and if you don’t respect them, then your life could go downhill fast. Sometimes we also don’t realize how much some people do for us until it is too late. (2) You start to lose control of your speech. James 3:6 says, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” The tongue defiles the whole body, so, if you lose control of it, it will be much easier to lose control of everything else. (3) You aren’t growing spiritually as you should. 2 Peter 3:17-18 gives us some confidence and should help us grow. It says, “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” We should never be lukewarm, but if we ever become lukewarm, we can come back to this passage. Hopefully this study has given you some examples of how to retain wisdom. If you remember these things and keep them in the midst of your heart, they will always be with you.
- Nick Reppert
