Proverbs 4:7. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.
This proverb is a bit playful (or maybe confusing). How does a person begin to be wise? By getting wisdom of course. The key word here is GET. To be wise you have to go after wisdom. You have to want it. You have to seek it, pursue it, chase after it. Do you want wisdom more than anything else in your life? If not, then you’ll never be wise.
The good news of Proverbs is that wisdom is for everyone. Anyone can get wisdom. You don’t have to be educated to be wise. You don’t have to be old to be wise. You don’t have to rich to be wise. You only need one thing to be wise: the fear of the Lord – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge… And you only need to do one thing to be wise – go get wisdom.
But where Proverbs tells us to go get wisdom, chase after it, pursue it, the New Testament tells us that Wisdom came to get us. Christ IS the wisdom of God in the flesh and in the spirit. Apart from getting Christ no one can be truly wise. But which of us has ever pursued Christ without Christ first pursuing us? Solomon says to his children, “Go get wisdom.” God says to his Wisdom, “Go get my children.”
Though we can never get more of Christ than we already have, we can grow in our knowledge of Christ.
2 Peter 3:18. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Growing in the wisdom of Christ is now the path of the Christian life. This is much more than asking what would Jesus do? It is asking what DID Jesus do? Getting the wisdom of Christ is getting the wisdom of the cross, it’s weakness, humility, and sacrifice. It’s getting the peace that comes with knowing that we are forgiven and free. That Christ’s own righteousness is ours, imputed to us by the grace of God. Getting wisdom is now an exercise in resting and receiving far more than it is an exercise in searching and obtaining.
Getting wisdom is now the life of faith. Faith in our union with Christ. Faith in the indwelling wisdom of the cross that is moment by moment transforming our lives, conforming us to the likeness of Jesus. Trusting that in him we have everything that we need and more. There is nothing left for us to gain and nothing that we can lose.
This is the good news in Christ: Wisdom has gotten us. He has come to us, possessed us, indwelt us, transformed us. Now we can get wisdom because Wisdom lives in us. It is never out of reach. Never too far away. It’s as close as your own heart. As close as to live is Christ.
You: Do you want wisdom more than anything else? Do you want Christ more than anything else?
You in Christ: In what way is Christ and his cross the wisdom of God? Can you explain this idea?
Christ in you: What will the wisdom of the cross of Christ look like in your life today? Be specific? Where will you have the opportunity to practice weakness, humility, and sacrifice?
Pray: Jesus, you got me first so that I can get you. Thank you! Amen.
To Live is Christ 