Why Wisdom Should Be Your Most Valuable Treasure

The next six blog articles will focus on Proverbs 2. The second chapter of Proverbs consists of 22 verses, each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet to help the seeker of wisdom remember their content.

The first half features the development of character. The second half pertains to deliverance or protection from wicked men and women.

The first condition of wisdom is that we become like Solomon’s Temple, housing the Word of God in our inner sanctuary.

Unlike pagan temples filled with idols and worshipers who seek to manipulate their lives through myth and ritual, we choose the Lord’s moral will to rule our hearts.

My child, if you accept my words
and treasure up my commandments within you,

Making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding (Proverbs 2.1-2)

Several years back, I was perched atop a wall with a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean. To my left, a group of middle-school-aged boys embarked on an exhilarating skateboarding adventure down a steep street.

With daring precision, they soared over a curb and gracefully cleared eight to ten stairs before reaching a local coffee spot. I couldn’t help but applaud their effort, along with a crowd of their girlfriends.

These boys didn’t learn those tricks without putting in hours and hours of effort to develop the skill to accomplish such a feat.

Should we not give the pursuit of God’s wisdom the same attention and effort?

Lady Wisdom goes to the places of business, government, education, and religion, and cries out with her full-throated voice (Proverbs 1.20).

She urges us to acquire wisdom with the same effort that a skilled skateboarder or other athlete applies to their craft.

Lady Wisdom piles one term upon another, calling us to participate in her wisdom.

She says, “Accept, treasure, make your ear attentive, incline your heart, cry out for insight, raise your voice, seek it like wealth, search for it as hidden treasure” (Proverbs 2.1-4).

All of these images convey the fact that wisdom is a great treasure to possess. It’s worthy of our every effort to acquire it.

Wisdom’s Value

I have long enjoyed Dallas Willard’s understanding of God’s wisdom. He counters the popular belief that religion is only worthwhile for spiritual matters.

He talks about God in terms of being the smartest Being that there ever was or will be.

He asks people, why not ask God to show you about finances, relationships, and a host of other things?

God, being the Wisest of all, the Creator of everything, should be sought for His wisdom in every decision we face.

Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord

When we acquire God’s wisdom, there is an awesome experience awaiting us.

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2.5)

Along with acquiring wisdom, we will understand the fear of the Lord. Many people struggle with the concept of the fear of the Lord. The wisdom that comes from God will answer that question for us.

I’d like to explain to you what I think when I hear the phrase, “fear of the Lord.”

Deuteronomy chapters 5 and 6 show me that the fear of the Lord is embedded in God’s command to love Him with all my heart, mind, soul, and entire being.

Proverbs reminds me that a humble meeting with God, where I listen to Him and take His advice, is another component of the fear of the Lord.

Obedient action is the final component of the fear of the Lord.

Knowledge of God does not mean the same thing as “thinking about God,” as my seminary professor defined theology.

Jesus has the best understanding of the knowledge of God. He talks about it to his disciples in John’s Gospel.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15.9-10).

Jesus transforms the abstract notion of knowledge, which we often perceive as “thinking.”

This transformation signifies an intimate connection where hearts communicate with one another.

Within this connection, He unites the relational dimension and the willingness to follow God’s guidance, as His picture of “the knowledge of God.”

Let’s Be Inspired

The middle school skateboarders challenge me. I imagine those teens devoting much energy to learning how to ride on a piece of wood with wheels.

Can we not devote significant amounts of energy to meet with the Greatest Being in the universe?

Is there any amount of time and effort too great to acquire the love and knowledge of God?

YouTube Video

Rudy Ross, Whispering Danny, and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.