You cannot grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord by osmosis, putting a Bible under your pillow is not going to work, neither is showing up for the Sunday morning service only, without personal effort on your part, it will not happen. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5)
In the first place if you didn’t read that in the Word of God, then any wisdom you believe yourself to have is at best only the wisdom of the world, and at worse is just plain old foolishness.
I have no idea who the smartest man ever to live was, but if he was not a born-again believer, he had absolutely no wisdom whatsoever. I have read of men who have been blessed with wisdom, and they all have several things in common, the first would be the truth of Ecclesiastes 1:18, “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”
They are grief-stricken individuals who are indeed filled with much sorrow. Grieving over the sinfulness of mankind and their pride filled lives, and sorrowful in the knowledge of their end if they do not repent. They are also frustrated individuals, you can read it in their words, they fulfill the inverse of Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” The inverse being that to see and comprehend righteousness, one must be shown the truth of unrighteousness, the evil that men do under the sun.
These seekers of the face of God are filled with wisdom at a pace that the Lord knows they can handle, never too much at once, always at the right time, for with this wisdom and knowledge comes the all too prevalent sin of pride. “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!” (Prov. 16:16) And that is one of the main things that Satan sets before these men of God, the riches of the world are offered to them if they will just impart a small part of their knowledge to the world. The gold will be squandered, the masses will lose interest in them, and if they are truly men of God, they will repent in tears, and continue upon the path.
There are two other items that will happen to this man, this speaker of the truths of the Word of God without fear of personal repercussions, he will be labeled contentious and far too adamant. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12) No one picks up a sword for the first time and brandishes it with great skill, much practice is required, and a Bible, the sword that is the Word of God is used effectively by none who only dust it off on Sunday morning and an occasional Wednesday night.
There are people who have many Bible verses memorized that have no idea how to apply them in the correct way at the correct time, or even in their own lives.
Wisdom only comes from God, and in this age of grace the only place that He offers it to us is in His Holy word, if you want to be wise you must not just read the Word of God, but study it, contemplate it, and put it into action not just in your heart but in every aspect of your life, nothing must stop you from speaking that which is to be desired above all else (Prov. 8:11) from that principle thing. (Prov. 4:7)
Those who have an understanding of the wisdom of the world have always easily deceived those who do not have the wisdom that can only come from God, look around even today and you will see this truth. Many of those you consider your brothers and sisters in Christ, those who sit in the same pews that you do, have determined that this wisdom we speak of is not worth seeking for, they may indeed be saved, but they have little desire to grow in this area. Perhaps they also have read that verse in Ecclesiastes and have decided they have enough grief and sorrow in their lives already, perhaps they’re not really that hungry or thirsty for righteousness.
