Proverbs 2:4-5 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge, and for that matter, between wisdom and intelligence. You could say that knowledge is information, intelligence is the ability to gather, store, and organize it, but wisdom is knowing what to do with it all. There are countless examples throughout history of people who had great intelligence and amassed considerable knowledge, but lacked the wisdom to use it rightly. Nazi scientists come to mind, for example. We still use data they amassed, because no one in their right mind would repeat their heartless experiments on such things as how much blood can be drained from a person before their heart stops, or how long someone can survive in frigid water. Even when it isn’t sociopathic, intelligence by itself does not equal wisdom. If we seek knowledge without seeking wisdom, we will end up like Solomon in Ecclesiastes, empty and bitter for all our amassed information. That’s a major issue today, as we have entered the “Information Age.” The amount of information available is totally beyond human ability to assimilate, yet it is electronically at our fingertips. That’s why it’s vitally important that we seek wisdom: knowledge is available to anybody. As this passage says, we need to seek wisdom. If we will do so in honesty, then we will understand human limitations and grasp the fear of the Lord, who created it all and who alone transcends it all. It is only when we get it through our heads that He is God, the Creator, that we can get to know Him, not as a philosophical abstract but in personal intimacy.

This is very close to home for me. I’ve always had a high IQ, which generally made school easy and relationships hard. When I was in the 10th grade I had a fascination with torture, and even gave a presentation on the subject in English class, to the horror of my classmates. I could have gone the way of the Nazi scientists, but God in His mercy kept me from it. At the same time that I was interested in torture, I had considerable knowledge of the Bible, having already read through it completely. I know too well that knowledge doesn’t equal wisdom! I’ve discovered over the years why the first and second commandments (Matthew 22:37-39) both focus on love, not knowledge. Paul expressed it this way in 1 Corinthians 8:1. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Without the love of God operative in my life, no amount of intelligence and knowledge is going to do me, or anyone else, any real good in the long run. I am to seek Him, and lead others to do likewise, because that is true wisdom.

Father, thank You for Your overwhelming grace toward me. When I think back over my life I can see so many times when I could have gone horribly wrong, as well as many times when I went somewhat wrong. Thank You for Your protection and Your correction. May I walk in the wisdom of fellowship with You, allowing Your grace and love to flow through me to those around me, drawing them to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!