The Little Book of Instructions

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.  Charles Spurgeon

Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness and sovereignty, acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours.  J.I. Packer

Solomon was the wealthiest man who ever lived.  He also wrote Proverbs that provides some of the most important instructions on how to live life.  The thing I love about Proverbs is they are very straightforward and most of them or very short.  It doesn’t take much to memorize them and you don’t have to be a biblical scholar to get their meaning.  I thought I would go through some of them in a series of devotionals to show you what I mean. 

In Proverbs 1:7 (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction), he tells us where to start to get knowledge or as I say smarts.  

  

When you get to Proverbs 2, he gives us a glimpse of the value of obtaining wisdom.  In this chapter there are a lot of action words.  He tells us to receive, treasure, incline your ear, apply your heart, cry out, lift up, seek and search.  This chapter also tells you what will happen if you do the things listed in the first half of the chapter and they are all beneficial to living a Christian life.  A few of these are it preserves, keeps and delivers.

When we get to Proverbs 3 he describes some of the things we will gain if we follow them.  We will find peace and direction.  How many times do we depend on ourselves alone to make the important decisions in life?  Two of my favorite verses Proverbs 3:5-6 (Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths.)  He goes on to tell us to honor the Lord with your possessions and to not despise God’s correction in your life.  He tells us that when we find wisdom we will be happy.  I think many times we confuse wisdom with book smarts.  We can have a photographic memory and remember every word we have ever read, but if we don’t apply it to our heart it has no value or in other words it is worthless.

How many of us go through life thinking we are happy?  If we were really happy we wouldn’t be striving so much for more of the things in this life.  The reason we keep striving for more on this earth is because we have a happy deficiency, but we haven’t figured out that the things of this earth aren’t what will get that happiness we are looking for.  For any of us to be happy we need to find wisdom.  That is the most important thing we can obtain on this earth.  Nothing else will compare to the happiness we will find when we really understand that the missing piece has nothing to do with stuff and everything to do with God.         

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I need to study Proverbs more. The wisest man who ever lived asked You for wisdom above riches, and you gave him more than he could ever dream of by giving him wisdom.  The riches he had in life were a by-product of wisdom.  I want Your wisdom, not the wisdom of the world.  If I ever want true happiness, I need to understand that it is not found here on earth but in You.  My happiness is found in trusting in and depending on You.  I praise You for Proverbs.   

      

Scripture: Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold.  She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.  Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor.  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her. Proverbs 3:13-18