“The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get insight.”

Proverbs 4:7 ESV

This verse provokes an obvious, yet critical question. Where can I get wisdom? Can I order some online? Do you enjoy the mystery that awaits you in a fortune cookie? I do. But I don’t look to fortune cookies for wisdom. Neither do I look to aged alcoholics for wisdom. That’s not to say that I could never gain wisdom from an aged alcoholic or a fortune cookie. That is to say, whatever apparent wisdom I may gain from the Internet or fortune cookies or an alcoholic must be measured against an unwavering standard.

Beware, everything that sounds wise isn’t necessarily wise. For example, when I was in college a friend and I shared an apartment not too far from campus. Other than the sense of freedom it provided us, the best feature of the apartment was the community hot tub. We enjoyed going to the hot tub late at night to kinda relax away the day. On occasion, an aged alcoholic would be there. He was easy to talk with and he enjoyed regaling us with the wisdom he had gained from a lifetime spent on the end of a bottle. I was enraptured with the nuggets of wisdom that he so effortlessly spilled our way. So much so that I even wrote one of these treasures in my Bible. The problem was I was a fool and had no ability to discern between gold and fool’s gold. To this young fool everything he said appeared to be gold. Only much later in life did I realize that so much of what he said was nonsense, and that the nugget that I wrote in my Bible was only fool’s gold.

What is a young man, or any man to do when the promise of wisdom is so high and the risk of foolishness is so great? As wisdom says, “For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death” (8:35-36).

Here’s the answer from Proverbs: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (9:10). God is the only infallible source of wisdom. Go straight to the source. Regularly spending time in Proverbs is a step in the right direction.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

  and do not lean on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5 ESV

This proverb falls into the “I don’t know if I can do that” category. How do I trust in the Lord with all of my heart? How do I not lean on my own understanding if that’s all I have? These are fair and normal questions.

For some, the answer will seem evasive, which actually supports the answer. What is the answer? Faith. Paul deals with this same idea in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Without faith, walking with God, and all that means, makes no sense.

So, how do I trust God with all of my heart? One faith step at a time. With each step of faith comes the opportunity for our faith to grow, which corresponds to ever increasing measures of trust in God. As our faith grows, so does our trust.

Begin to grow in your trust today by asking God for help in believing in the small things, that your faith may increase.

“My son, if you receive my words

    and treasure up my commandments with you,

² making your ear attentive to wisdom

    and inclining your heart to understanding;

³ yes, if you call out for insight

    and raise your voice for understanding,

⁴ if you seek it like silver

    and search for it as for hidden treasures,

⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord

    and find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5 ESV

This is a beautifully constructed “if … then” proverb. In other words, if you do this, then this will happen. When I notice an if/then statement, I often jump to the “then” clause to see the payoff. Sometimes I disregard the conditions altogether, focusing only on the benefit I expect to receive. Of course that approach is silly. How can I expect the benefit(s) of an if/then statement if I give no attention to the conditions of that statement?

In this proverb the payoff is huge: “then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” This should be the active goal of every person. But what are the conditions? We will work through them one at a time.

The first condition: If you want to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, the first thing you need to do, the writer says, is “receive my word and treasure up my commandments with you.” These are heart matters. We need hearts that are receptive to wisdom, seeking wisdom. Then, we need to recognize the value of wisdom (i.e., treasure). Do you think of wisdom simply as something that would be good to have or is it an essential thing. This proverb suggests that we need to see wisdom as essential. The writer reiterates this thought in 7:1. “My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you.”

How is your heart condition as it relates to wisdom? Are you ready to receive it and treasure it?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

  fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

The book of Proverbs is dedicated to knowledge, the right kind of knowledge. That is to say wisdom and godliness. Note that the fool despises this kind of knowledge.

The remainder of the book provides a contrast between the righteous and the fool.

“Every word of God proves true;

 he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,

 lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”

Proverbs 30:5-6 ESV

Here is an important warning about how to handle God’s word. In other words, “Believe it and don’t mess with it.”

A few more similar warnings:

“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV

“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.” Deuteronomy 12:32 ESV

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19 ESV