Seeking Wisdom

For Friday, November 11, 2005
Proverbs 14:6

A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.

The sad irony that Proverbs teaches is that the people who need wisdom the most - the fool, the scoffer, the wicked - are the ones least likely to attain it, while the wise are the ones who find it and profit from it. The scoffer/fool just doesn't "get it." Like Simon the Magician who tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, the fool doesn't understand what wisdom even is. He sees the wise make right decisions to solve problems and he confuses their wisdom for cleverness; he sees them profit from wisdom and thus regards wisdom as a mere tool to use for his advantage. He does not understand that wisdom has to do with character. Wisdom comes out of a right character, and it molds character. But the fool doesn't want his character changed. He wants to change others to get his desires.

And so the scoffer seeks wisdom in vain. How is your wisdom hunting going? Understand that the issue is not so much you finding wisdom, but having a character in which you invite wisdom to find you and to mold you. Pray that the Holy Spirit - the true Giver of Wisdom - will keep you still and open your heart and mind to him.