Who among us believes it foolish to seek wise counsel from those who have experienced the same things in life that we now face? Not me. Quite the contrary, I value advice from others who have already experienced the challenges I face. We must carefully discern who is providing wise counsel and who is providing only loud opinions… but once we do we can feast on the wisdom they share and seek to apply it to our lives.
Scripture tells us that Solomon received a gift of great wisdom from God. He used it to lead God’s people and govern a prosperous nation. People came from near and far to hear his wisdom.
1 Kings 4:29 29Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. 30Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. 34Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
We have it available to us in the book of Proverbs in the Bible. How much easier for us to learn from him than even those of his own time! What good reason would we have to avoid reading what Solomon wrote and considering how to apply it in our lives? It is free and we can test what he says for ourselves.
The Usefulness of Proverbs
1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding,
3To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice and equity;
4To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion,
5A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
6To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Solomon covers a lot of ground for how to improve our life in interacting with other people and with God. Much of it applies specifically to finances as well. To begin with we should recognize that to become wise, in any area, we must first admit we do not have all the answers and we can learn from others. If we stubbornly believe we already have all the answers than we will get no wiser because we will reject or not listen to the wisdom others share with us. If we admit we have more to learn and we seek wise counsel we will increase in learning.
5A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
Two more fundamental building block for a solid foundation on growing in wisdom are captured in verse 7.
7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Honoring and obeying God is not just “something we do”, like going to church or praying or doing a Bible Study. Obeying God is “a way of doing everything”. Respecting, loving, and yes fearing God is the beginning of knowledge. From this foundation we can gain much wisdom.
Finally, we must admit that those who despise wisdom and instruction are quite plainly fools. Those who refuse wise counsel will remain fools. Let us strive to not be that fool, but instead remain humble enough to listen thoughtfully to advice from God, plainly available in scripture, and to advice from others whom we discern as having credible wisdom. That is how we grow wiser… and wiser… all the days of our lives.
Challenge yourself… are you listening to and considering God’s advice? the advice of others?
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