October 30th, 2024
Proverbs 8:1 “Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?
The book of Proverbs is King Solomon’s book given to help people gain wisdom and understanding. It was written to us so that we could better understand how to live wisely in this world.
In this book we are told that wisdom calls and understanding raises her voice. It goes on to say that this wisdom is raising her voice and calling from the crossroads of life, from the hills above and from the gates in front of the town.
I have to admit, it doesn’t always seem like wisdom is calling, often it seems more like foolishness is what I see calling to people from the highways and byways of life. But still, God’s word says that wisdom is there calling to people too. Both are calling and trying to get people to heed their voices.
My dad used to say he learned from the school of hard knocks, and there is a saying with some depth to it about people growing up street wise. So, there is wisdom that we can gain from listening to what is happening around us in life. I wonder if this was on Solomon’s mind when he wrote these words. I think he was trying to tell us that if we would listen to what is going on around us, we would gain wisdom.
But it is deeper than that. True wisdom comes from God, so the wisdom that Solomon was writing about was not just from the streets and from life’s school of hard knocks, it is wisdom that comes from God. Solomon was saying that if we will look for it, God’s wisdom is out there for us to learn from. We can gain wisdom from God on the streets of life.
God’s wisdom calls to us. God wants to impart to all His people, true wisdom. He wants this for us so that we can live better lives in this world, be prepared for the next, and help others along those highways and byways of life.
We need to become wise. The world around us needs wise people. We may never be the smartest people, I surely won’t, but we can still gain wisdom. While I will never understand quantum physics or how a computer chip made of sand can store information, I can gain understanding and wisdom for life in this world. And so can you.
In this book of Proverbs, Solomon also shows us that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. This shows us that if we truly want to be wise and have a better life because of it, we need to come to the Lord and listen to Him. He is the One calling from the streets. He is the One calling from the hills. God is the One who is calling us to follow Him and learn from Him. True wisdom comes from God.
People in our world want to become smart and to gain wisdom. But many want to do that apart from the Lord. They go to universities, they attend seminars, they seek wisdom in all kinds of places and from all sorts of teachers. But if they, if we, seek wisdom apart from God, we will at best find knowledge, but we will not gain wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to understand things in this world from God’s perspective. If you want wisdom, you need the Lord.
At the end of this chapter, after saying that wisdom was with God from the beginning of time, Solomon writes, “Whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.”
Seek wisdom. Seek the Lord. When you go through life, don’t just go with the flow, stop, look and listen, God is calling, wisdom is calling. When you stop and look at what is happening around you in this world, and do so from the perspective of God and His word, you will begin to gain understanding beyond what the world can give, beyond being street wise. You will begin to be truly wise because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Pastor Gary
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