DAY 252

WISDOM = EXPERIENCE + KNOWLEDGE

Proverbs 3, 4 & 5 and 2 Corinthians 1

Onto the Second Letter to the Corinthians; will it be more of the same? The letter beginS like many, but there is a verse in this first chapter that I often hang onto: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (vv. 3-4) We can comfort others when we have known the comfort of God!

This second letter seems to be in lieu of a visit. Can the written word impart wisdom? Can God’s Word impart wisdom? That is certainly why this second letter was written, to impart wisdom to a church, and wisdom is the business of the Proverbs.

In Proverbs chapter three the first 26 verses are aimed at encouraging us to pay attention to our need to gain wisdom. My own father used to say “knowledge + experience = wisdom. The Book of Proverbs certainly is working on the “knowledge” part of that equation. As chapter three turns into verse 27, the specific advice begins…and one piece of advice includes not worrying about the wicked prospering; interesting because many of the Psalms lament over that very situation.

Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible is always spoken of in the feminine. The Proverb says to listen to the father’s advice, but it is a feminine voice. What is this advice? Seek wisdom and do not walk the way of the wicked. To do so requires that each of us ponder our path, how we are walking…there is a sense that we are to be intentional about our lives. In other words we are to gain experience, having a “head full of the right answers won’t do it, we need to be intentional to gain the right experience…and this intentionality requires that we discipline ourselves!

Chapter five highlights how tempting the adulteress’ ways and words can be, and it envisions someone lying on their death bemoaning the fact that they were seduced to walk in the way of the wicked. The verse reads, “How I hated discipline…” The way of wisdom is a way of intentional learning and intentional avoidance of wrong. I love the part apart about staying with your own wife…there is real intimate sensuality in the Bible…sex is not bad when within marriage…in fact the Bible says it is very good!

The point of all this is that to gain wisdom requires that we seek it and apply it continuously. We won’t be perfect, and remember this is not about “earning your way to heaven” – Jesus paid that price. It is about the important business of living life and living life requires gaining wisdom, gaining “experience + knowledge.”