Dwight Fletcher |Walking in wisdom – Part I

If God were to say to you, “I’ll give you anything you want in life. Just name one thing, and I’ll give that to you.” What would your answer be?

This happened to a king of Israel, Solomon. And his response to God may surprise you. Solomon had just become king after his famous father, David. I’m sure he would have been concerned with honouring the legacy of his father. Yet Solomon did not ask for the defeat of his enemies – though there were many. He did not request weapons, or fortified cities, or wealth to afford this and more. This man was not concerned with fame, comfort, or pleasure. All Solomon wanted was wisdom.

If God had asked us what is the one thing we want in life, I don’t think most of us would have asked for wisdom. That might be on the list, but it certainly wouldn’t be number one. Many of us would, maybe, like fewer problems, to get married, or to get out of debt. Solomon, out of all the things he could have asked God for, asked God to make him wise, and God granted his request. Wisdom is critical, and it is the key to literally everything else that we want in life. Proverbs 8:11 (NLT) says, “For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.”

To give you an idea of how valuable wisdom is to the writer of Proverbs, the highest quality of rubies is worth 400 times what gold is worth and four times what diamonds are worth. Wisdom is far more valuable to your life than you could possibly imagine. If you get wisdom, it will bless every other area of your life. The Bible says in Proverbs 4:7 (TLB), “Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do!”

But this wisdom is not what the world would lead you to believe. Wisdom, as the Bible defines it, is seeing things from God’s point of view. It is not knowledge. You can get knowledge from many sources, but a person can be knowledgeable and not wise. Sometimes we see it for ourselves. Many persons are actually quite wise without having degrees or formal education.

And while education is important, God repeatedly stresses the importance of wisdom. A wisdom that comes from Heaven and not from universities. He says it is the number-one thing we need to desire in life because it will affect every other thing in our lives for the better.

Almost all of the problems in our lives come from a lack of wisdom, which leads to making foolish decisions. We have financial problems because we make foolish financial decisions. We have relational problems because we make foolish relational decisions. But as we fill our lives with wisdom, we will have fewer problems and more success in life.

Proverbs 3:16-18 (GNT) mentions seven major benefits of getting wisdom in our lives. “Wisdom offers you long life, as well as wealth and honour. Wisdom can make your life pleasant and lead you safely through it. Those who become wise are happy; wisdom will give them life.”

If we were told of a product that would give us long life, make us wealthy, bring us honour, make life pleasant and easier, lead us safely through the problems of life, make us happy, and cause us to experience life as it was meant to be lived, we would not believe it! We would say it was unrealistic! But God is telling us that this is the value of receiving wisdom from Heaven.

So instead of searching for the answer to our problems in money, our appearance, our connections, or our resources, let us ask God for the wisdom that comes from Heaven to live a life of purpose.