“People
know where to mine silver and how to refine gold. 2 They know where to dig iron from the earth
and how to smelt copper from rock. 3 They know how to shine light in the
darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the
dark for ore. 4 They
sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on
ropes, swinging back and forth. 5 Food is grown on the earth above, but down
below, the earth is melted as by fire….9 People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains. 10 They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones. 11 They dam up the trickling streams and
bring to light the hidden treasures. 12 “But do people know where to find wisdom? Where
can they find understanding? 13 No one
knows where to find it, for it
is not found among the living. 14 ‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is
it here,’ says the sea. 15 It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot
be purchased with silver. 16 It’s
worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis
lazuli. 17 Wisdom
is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels
mounted in fine gold…. 20 “But
do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?... 23 “God alone understands the way to wisdom; He
knows where it can be found, 24 for He
looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens. 25 He decided how hard the winds should blow and
how much rain should fall. 26 He
made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning…. 28 And this is what He says to all humanity: ‘THE
FEAR OF THE LORD IS TRUE WISDOM; TO FORSAKE EVIL IS REAL UNDERSTANDING.[1]’”
One thing had been mistaken for
ages is that after people get their college degree the more they study the more
wise they are, and the less they will have to depend on those around him/her. Nothing more far from the reality! Do not get
me wrong, I do support college degree for everyone, but it’s the sense of superiority
that sometimes gets into those that seek to better themselves thru school that
gets me, because many times end up belittling all those that do not accomplish “that
far”.
The first few verses give us
several examples of things that people know about. People know where to mine silver, and how to
refine gold; to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of
the earth; sink mine shaft into the earth, or how to descend on ropes, but that
doesn’t mean that even people with college degrees because of their degrees
know about these things or are more or less smarter than those who know about
those, just because of the college degree.
Absolutely no!
So the key question we are
looking to get answered is, where is wisdom coming from? But before answering where
it does come from the text is telling us where wisdom is not found. We are not
going to find that answer in the ocean, we can go as deep as we could go and is
not found there; I’m sure we could see “new” things but not the answer we’re
looking for. The text also says wisdom is
an expensive thing but it can’t be purchased with silver, gold or jewels. Then suddenly we are confronted
with part of the answer, and what I mean with part of the answer is that it has
two parts, the first which is given here, God ALONE understands the way to
wisdom. It is GOD who decides how hard the wind should blow, how much rain
should fall, HE is who made the laws for the rain. Then He give us the second
part of the answer HE says to all humanity that, the fear to HIM who created all, to HIM who placed
boundaries for the waters of the sea would not transgress His command[2],
and He who marked out the foundations of the earth, that’s wisdom! It is
HIM who had given each of us a measure of faith[3],
and to some HE has equipped to do some jobs that aren’t for others[4],
when we fear THAT ONLY PERSON who can do those things, that’s wisdom! And it
comes with a gift, because when we fear and respect THE LORD, that will make us
To turn away from
evil and that in turn will give us understanding[5]. See without turning away from evil we will
not be able to understand the things that He had plans for us to know. See, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.[6]” This is why is important that when you
receive Him in your heart, you begin to study His Word, The Bible, because only
then you will understand the things written in it. For the same reason, if you
have not committed your life to Him and try to read His Word, you might not
understand too much of it, if not all of it.
My friend, no matter how wealthy or
not you are, how large or small your accomplishments list in life has been, because
when it comes to wisdom, its only found in God.
And you might ask, What to do, then?
Well
the first thing is to receive JESUS in your heart, (that means, admit that as a person without God, you are sinner,
and you NEED for God to save you, then believe that HE send JESUS to the cross
to pay for your sins, because He did!, and then confess HIM as your ONLY Savior
and Master of your life), and then be careful to observe HIS Word.[7] In case you feel you still are not too wise
or you want to understand better or more, James 1:5 says it’s a free gift: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Besides, when
you stand continually before God, you will increase not only with the blessing
of wisdom but also with happiness[8],
and a so many other blessings like it happened to Solomon[9].
Therefore, just ASK GOD!
A great resource to be use as a
prayer to acquire wisdom is found on Psalm 119. Try it!
I’m praying your desire for
wisdom be multiplied as you engage in a deeper communion with our Creator, in JESUS name, AMEN!
[1]
Check also the Easy to Read Version (ERV), and the Good News Translation (GNT)
[2]
Proverbs 8:29 NKJV
[3]
Romans 12:3 NKJV
[4]
Exodus 35:35, 36:2; 1 King 7:14; 1 Chronicles 25:1; 2 Chronicles 2:14; Ezra 7:6
[5] Job
28:28 ERV (Easy to Read Version)
[6]
Psalm 111:10 NKJV
[7] Deuteronomy
4:6 NKJV
[8] 1
Kings 10:8 NKJV
[9] 2
Chronicles 1:11-12 NKJV
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