Proverbs 1:5. Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
The word learning that Solomon uses here means to study something. What do you like to study? What are you a student of?
As we’ve already said, it is quite possible to gain much knowledge and still not be wise. As a school teacher, I’ve worked alongside other teachers with PhDs who couldn’t relate to their students or control a classroom. They had knowledge, but not wisdom.
So yes, you can have knowledge without wisdom, but you can’t have wisdom without knowledge. To be wise we must increase in learning. To be wise you have to desire to learn new things. To be wise you have to increase in your knowledge of God, of others, of yourself, of life and death, of hate and love, of good and evil. As Peter exhorts his readers, “Grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
But again, knowledge is only the beginning. The wise person must be able to take everything they are learning and use it in not only good ways, but the BEST ways. The ways that will help others the most. That’s wisdom – navigating the complexities of life with not only the good, but the best.
Everything God does is best, not just OK, but literally there is no better way to do it. His work of creation was the best possible option. Creation from love, creating us to worship and serve him and the rest of creation. Even his allowance of evil into the world was best. His redemptive plan is best. The incarnation is best. Christ on the cross is best. Salvation by grace through faith is best.
Of course God didn’t have to learn any of this. He is intrinsically all knowing, all powerful, and all good. We on the other hand are not those things, therefore, we must increase in learning and thus in faith.
Our union with Christ offers us the opportunity for a lifetime of such learning. Learning God’s best. Jesus. Christ in you. Faith in Christ is not only a good option, it’s the best option. Why? Because it is truly the only good option. Every Philosophy 101 class will tell you, what Plato told us more than two thousand years ago, that for something to be good it must be perfect, eternal, and unending. Christ in you is the only thing in your life today that can check all of those boxes. Your money doesn’t check those boxes. Your stuff doesn’t. Even your family and friends don’t. Only Christ does. Jesus is best, because he alone is good.
Luke 18:19. No one is good except God alone.
Are you learning Christ. Not just ABOUT Christ. Yes, for sure start there. Read the New Testament. Study the life of Jesus and the Apostles faith in Christ. But go beyond mere head knowledge to learn what trust in Christ looks like moment by moment, with every part of your personal life. Yes, learn about how Jesus lived, but then learn how to live like Jesus. That’s wisdom.
You: Do you tend to gain lots of knowledge without wisdom?
In Christ: Besides reading this devotional (a good start), what are you doing to learn about your life in Christ?
Christ in you: Ultimately, are you trusting in the good or the best? Christ’s teachings (the good) or Christ himself (the best)?
Pray: Father, I want to learn about God, but more importantly teach me to trust you just as Jesus did. Jesus, work out your faith through my faith, and in so doing give me increased understanding of your love. Amen.
To Live is Christ 