An Exhortation to Acquire Wisdom
November 19, 2022
Commentary
In this passage the key thought is to get wisdom and to get understanding (vv. 5,7). It starts out by saying listen to your father’s instruction (v. 1); that he is giving you good teaching (v. 2), just as his father and mother had given him (vv. 3-4). If you prize wisdom it will embrace you and honor you (vv. 8-9). Here are four biblical suggestions on how to get wisdom:
Desire wisdom with all your heart. (v. 8) says, “Prize her highly and she will exalt you; she will honor you for your embrace.”Apply ourselves in study and meditation to know the Word of God and do it. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” (Psalm 19:7). (Consider the illustration above).Pray. “To thee, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for thou hast given me wisdom and strength, and hast made known to me what we asked of thee” (Daniel 2:23).Think of the shortness of this life and the infinite length of the next. “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psa. 90:12).
Application
Today I wrote on my prayer sheet to pray for wisdom for myself and for each one in my family. Also to be more specific as I pray for wisdom in the lives of myself and my children. Wisdom for:
Who to live life for?Who to live life with?What to live life doing?
Proverbs 4:1– 9 (NET)
1 Listen, children, to a father’s instruction, and pay attention so that you may gain discernment.
2 Because I hereby give you good instruction, do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son to my father, a tender, only child before my mother,
4 he taught me, and he said to me: “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands so that you will live.
5 Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding; do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will guard you.
7 Wisdom is supreme —so acquire wisdom, and whatever you acquire, acquire understanding!
8 Esteem her highly and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her.
9 She will place a fair garland on your head; she will bestow a beautiful crown on you.”
Illustration: A Goal of Reading 20 Books Per Year
I want to share with you something really encouraging. Most of us don’t aspire very high in our reading because we don’t feel like there is any hope. But listen to this. Suppose you read about 250 words a minute and that you resolve to devote just 15 minutes a day to serious reading to deepen your grasp of Biblical truth. In one year (356 days) you would read for 5,475 minutes. Multiply that times 250 words per minute and you get 1,368,750 words per year. Now most books have between 300 and 400 words per page. So if we take 350 words per page and divide that into 1,368,750 words per year we get 3,910 pages per year. This means that at 250 words a minute, fifteen minutes a day you could read about 20 average sized books a year! I believe you will be absolutely elated: reading more than you ever thought you could in a 15 minute slot that would have been wasted anyway. Start with the Bible and then choose some great commentaries. (Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author).