-Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun.
For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. -
Vanity of Vanities. All is Vanity. But wisdom is good if you get the chance to see the sun.
Why? Well, it’s obvious but wisdom protects you. It keeps you from making foolish mistakes leading to your ruin in different arenas.
When I was young, I made a simple decision, and it has proved to work well for me. I decided that the adults in my life who I respected knew more than I did.
What were the consequences of this decision? I didn’t stay out late. I studied. I saved my money.
Was I boring? Sure, to some degree. Being an adult can have its dry moments, but I got married young, graduated with no debt, and helped my wife get out of her student loans.
Responsibility is boring but liberating.
Was I wise? Absolutely not. I listened to people I believed to be wise and took their advice and guidance seriously, even when I couldn’t fully make sense of it.
Everything mentioned in our verses today I can attest to being true in my life. I’m sure most of you will say that wisdom has been to your benefit as well.
Here’s a strange question. Why?
Perhaps you might say the strategies that worked well for those before should work well for us too. Following the trail blazes is a good way to see if your headed in the right direction.
Hard to disagree with that logic, but why? Why doesn’t it differ? Don’t we live in a world of unprecedented change?
Would I have ever been able to communicate with you if not for the internet? How could I distribute anything like this blog via parchment and quills?
Maybe this makes my point a little clearer. Just what is wisdom? Is it an amalgam of behaviors and sayings people have cobbled together? Is there any reason why it works better for some than others?
In the beginning was the Word. John tells us in his gospel that Jesus is the logos, the divine reasoning, present with God in the creation of the world.
Perhaps one way to refer to that is divine wisdom. It’s at least close enough to the idea that you would be splitting hairs at that point.
In Proverbs 8:22-24, Solomon writes this of wisdom:
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
What is Solomon speaking of? If we take what John says seriously, is he not speaking of the Logos that was with God at the beginning?
If we believe this radical idea, then it means the Son of God who walked among us is wisdom. It is His life itself from which wisdom comes.
Why be wise?
Well, why not imitate Jesus?
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