Wisdom is a kind of intelligence that helps people anticipate how things will work in various situations so they can act appropriately. Wise people are not as obvious as fools, which seem to be everywhere. Whereas the fool is short-sighted (see Luke 12:16), the wise person aims life to the noblest end and finds effective means of achieving that end.

Through God’s common grace to the world, all societies have expressions of wisdom. Farmer’s almanacs, blogs with life hacks, and even fortune cookies contain wisdom. But such secular wisdom can only help a person know how the world works, but not why it works. Here is where the Bible excels. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7, memory verse).

God’s wisdom helps people succeed in God’s world.

God is the source of all wisdom. In love, he gave us the book of Proverbs and other wisdom writings. Proverbs 1:7 is the controlling verse for all of Proverbs. It also tells us that wisdom is found in a relationship with God. Conversely, the Bible states “the fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God’” (Psalms 14:1 & 53:1). The wise person recognizes that all of life is sustained and saturated with God’s very presence. God’s kingdom is now present and available to all of us through Jesus, the eternal and incarnate wisdom of God. The Lord gives wisdom to those who ask him (James 1:5).

Taking It Home: Build the habit of asking God for his wisdom in each of your situations. Through prayer, you will be developing a real relationship with him. Do no remain satisfied with naivete or foolishness. Seek God’s wisdom. “The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom…” (Proverbs 4:7).