God's Action Plan for Wisdom
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
When I used to manage a bank, I had numerous areas for which I was responsible. In several of these areas I was required each quarter of the year to produce an action plan for how I intended to see that particular area to be successful in that quarter. The plans involved big picture thinking, goals, and action items. The action items are the things I was going to do to ensure that the goals were reached and the big picture was realized. In these first five verses of Proverbs chapter 2 we see a great list of action items to reach the goal of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of God.
- Receive my words
- Treasure up my commandments
- Make your ear attentive to wisdom
- Incline your heart to understanding
- Call out for insight
- Raise your voice for understanding
- Seek it like silver
- Search for it as for hidden treasures
All of these action items require that we admit we don’t have the necessary wisdom and understanding within ourselves. This is a message that goes against popular thinking in the world. The world says we should just dig down deep inside of us and we’ll find everything we need to make it through. The world celebrates success stories by celebrating a person, their achievement, and their strength or endurance. The Bible is clear, however, that what is needed for success is not found deep inside of us, quite the opposite. What is needed is only found in God. So, the Bible points us toward God, to seek Him as if searching for hidden treasures, so that in Him we may find all that is needed for true life.
The world doesn’t like to hear that God is the answer or that they are lacking in themselves. We don’t like to hear that we’re lacking. But the first step towards true wisdom and understanding is in realizing that we don’t have it. The second step is a commitment to give our energies and effort towards pursuing the One Who does have it.
These verses give a great promise. If we are faithful to seek and to search for wisdom, if we truly receive God’s word and treasure His commandments, then we will find the true understanding and knowledge. It is not just going to happen by drudging through life as usual. We must commit to this action plan given to us by God Himself and invest ourselves into completing it.
