Do we want to be wise?

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13 NIV)

Being “wise and understanding” – isn’t that how we all want to be known? Yet that is quite a tall order. Wisdom is not something you can study and become proficient in. You can’t go into a shop and buy a book about how to achieve it. People often confuse wisdom with knowledge. Knowledge is the accumulation of information and facts. Wisdom is knowing how to properly use that information. A friend of mine explained it this way (and this isn’t original with him): knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are a fruit; wisdom is not putting tomatoes in a fruit salad.

How do we get wisdom? Where does wisdom come from? Wisdom comes from experience, from living your life a certain way. As you gain experience you are then able to help others – that is where understanding comes from. But true wisdom – that is something that is difficult to find. Job searched for it and arrived at this conclusion:

“But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? No mortal comprehends its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living…It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver…God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens…then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it. And he said to the human race, ‘The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’’’ (Job 28:12-13,15,23-24,27-28)

True wisdom come from having a relationship with God. We learn to view our lives, not as the time we spend on the earth, but in view of eternity. The Psalmist wrote (Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses): “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12). Another Psalm tells us: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise” (Psalms 111:10). There is an unbreakable connection between fearing, serving and obeying God and wisdom. The Biblical writers make the case that without God we cannot have wisdom.

How do we know when someone is wise? We see in in their lives in what they do (and, perhaps, in what they don’t do). Connected with this, James writes, is humility – true wisdom will bring humility.

Do we want wisdom? Then we need to be concentrating on our relationship with God, which also means we spend time in God’s word. We gain knowledge from God’s word in how we are to live and then we begin to live that way – we put what we have learned into practice. This is the only way wisdom can be seen in our lives. In fact, this is the only way we can have true wisdom. James reminds us earlier in his letter that we must not forget to pray about this.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)

As I think about the people I have known during my life who have shown they were wise in the advice they gave, I always find that they spent a lot of time with God’s word, studying it and wrestling with it, as they grew both in knowledge and understanding.

May we make the pursuit of wisdom a goal in our lives as we grow in our faith and in our knowledge of Jesus.

Image by Tara Winstead from pexels.com

Readings for next week: James 1-5; Galatians 1-4