Proverbs 4:7
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Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
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Here is the key verse of Proverbs! These are King David's words to his son Solomon (4:1-9). They explain the purpose of the book of Proverbs. They describe the greatest goal for any life - the important pursuit of wisdom and understanding. It is mankind's folly and trouble that any other ambition ever competes with this chief goal. It is your duty and blessed privilege to consider this wonderful opportunity and seek wisdom.
Wisdom is the principal thing - the most important matter in life. Wisdom is the power of right judgment - the ability to choose the correct solution for any situation. It is knowing how to think, speak, and act to please both God and men. It is the basis for victorious living. Without wisdom, men make choices that bring them pain, poverty, trouble, and even death. With it, men make choices that bring them health, peace, prosperity, and life.
Understanding is connected to wisdom, and it is also an important goal. Understanding is the power of discernment - to see beyond what meets the eye and recognize the inherent faults or merits of a thing. Without understanding, men are easily deceived and led astray. Without it, men are confused and perplexed. With it, men can see what others miss, and they can avoid the snares and traps of seducing sins. With it, life's difficulties are simple.
Here is success defined and exalted! What will you do with this axiom of life for yourself and your children? If you neglect this matter, the most important of life, you will bring dysfunction and trouble upon yourself and your family. If you make it a priority to get wisdom and understanding, you can bask in pleasant prosperity. Finding wisdom brings life and God's favor; neglecting it wrongs your own soul and brings death (8:35-36).
America spends billions on education, but neither wisdom nor understanding is part of any curriculum! Parents sacrifice for their children to "get an education," as if it were the noblest human goal! But they fail to realize learning without wisdom or understanding is worse than worthless, for it gives false confidence in knowledge that cannot protect your life and leads to bad choices. An educated fool is worse than an ignorant fool (26:12)!
It does not matter who discovered Bolivia, nor if it was discovered. And unless you work for NASA, calculus is a waste of time; though it does give students an excuse for a lower grade point average! Regurgitating facts you will never use in the real world is one of the greatest hoaxes ever sold. Wisdom is the principal thing, but it is not in the scope and sequence of any grade, of any state, of any modern nation. A bachelor's degree takes 17 years of formal education, but the degree is granted without any consideration of wisdom.
Wisdom and understanding require knowing and fearing God (1:7; 9:10). Without them, a person cannot even start to obtain wisdom. But these vital prerequisites are forbidden and ridiculed in our nation's institutions of "higher learning"! What higher learning are they pursuing? Irrelevant facts and insane reasoning! Facts without a valuable context are irrelevant, and reasoning without a First Cause and moral absolutes is hallucination.
What are the main goals of our so-called enlightened nation? Pleasure! We are no better than the Epicurean madness of the Greeks (Acts 17:16-34). Money! Which is the root of all evil and drowns men in destruction (I Tim 6:6-10). Health! Which is quite worthless, if your stronger and longer life is used to extend your dysfunctional living (13:15).
Parent! What are you doing with and for your children? Are you teaching them the power of right discernment and right judgment? Do you have these abilities yourself? Or do you think you are a great parent by giving them three squares a day, a few hours of restricted television, and picking them up from soccer practice? What a disgusting shame!
Parent! Wisdom is found in the Word of God, and any thoughts contrary to the Word of God are dark ignorance (Ps 119:128; Is 8:20; I Tim 6:3-5, 20). It is your duty to learn wisdom from the Bible, and it is your duty to teach it to your children (Deut 6:4-9; Eph 6:4; II Tim 3:15). If you do not teach them, do you think Miss Huckleberry at the local Middle School is going to do it? Most pastors and churches don't even do it today!
Parent! Wisdom may be summarized as a Bible worldview. The world is drunk with nihilism, naturalism, humanism, and pantheism, among other heresies. Your children should be totally established in a Creator God, Who has revealed absolute truth in the Bible, which is perfect in every part, and contains the factual knowledge of Jesus Christ, the devil, the origin and end of man, eternal punishment, and perfect rules for society.
Parent! Wisdom may be seen clearly by comparing it to folly, as many of Solomon's proverbs do. You have daily opportunities in our confused and profane world to identify the foolishness of man and show the answer of wisdom - straight from the Word of God. It is the blessed privilege of the righteous to mock and ridicule the ignorance of fools!
Wisdom takes a commitment (18:1), a commitment to reject your thoughts (3:5; 17:16; 18:2). It cannot be a part-time pursuit, for it requires the careful diligence that hunting for hidden treasure requires (2:1-9). You must redeem your time for the pursuit (Eph 5:15-17). Yet it is easy for those who love it and seek it with humble readiness (8:17; 14:6).
May God bless His children to simplify their lives - getting rid of unnecessary noise and distraction - to focus on the principal things - wisdom and understanding. Do not let the world or devil distract you with frivolous and worthless pursuits. Jesus grew in wisdom and in favor with God and man, and these are the right goals for you and your family.
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