And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor. (Luke 2:52)

Wisdom is a priceless commodity!

Remember the Gold Rush of 1849? Men and women crossed vast mountains, took enormous risks and made great personal sacrifices in their quest for gold.

How would you react if a veteran gold miner, one who should know, told you that, under your back yard, a hundred million dollars in gold was buried? There it was waiting for you to dig it up. The normal reaction would be a sudden attack of gold fever! You and I would rush right home and begin to dig, wouldn't we?

Wisdom is worth more than gold! It's value is more lasting, and its effect is more far-reaching. Jesus was committed to having wisdom as one of his goals. It was part of his balanced growth toward wholeness.

A friend of mine planned various diving expeditions off of the Florida Keys. His quest? Treasure. The wrecks of many a Spanish galleon lay among those coral reefs, and his goal was to find one--becoming wealthy in the process. He had an ordinary day job working as a building superintendent for the Key Biscayne Hotel. But for years, he was driven by his goal to discover sunken treasure. He had extensive maps of the ocean bottom. And he was compulsive in his accumulation of historical knowledge of ships known to have been wrecked by violent storms. He was driven in his pursuit of sunken treasure.

God says,

Happy are those who find wisdom,

and those who get understanding,

for her income is better than silver,

and her revenue better than gold.

She is more precious than jewels,

and nothing you desire can compare

with her.

Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to those who lay

hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called

happy. (Proverbs 3:13-18)

You and I are called to seek wisdom. In fact, God makes a precise analogy between the person like my friend who is the treasure-seeker and the person who is the wisdom-seeker. Again, through the writer of Proverbs, God says,

My child, if you accept my words

and treasure up my commandments

within you,

making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to

understanding;

if you indeed cry 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. (Proverbs 2:1-5)

Is wisdom your goal? Do you yearn for it? Do you cry out to God for it? Are you "increasing" in it, as did Jesus?

You ask, "What is wisdom?"

Well, perhaps the best way to attack that question is to say what wisdom isn't.

Wisdom is not simply intellectualism, although it does involve the mind. An intellectual person is not necessarily a wise person.

I think back to my educational experience. I had one professor who was quite brilliant. The problem was he was extremely intelligent but not very practical. You've heard about the "absent-minded professor." He was a perfect example of this. I remember watching this professor one day as he strode, briefcase in hand, out of the lecture hall at Princeton Theological Seminary, down the stairs, along the walkway toward the administrative building. Suddenly, he stopped. Turning, he retraced his steps back toward the stairs. Abruptly, he stopped again. With his one hand, he hit his head and began to scratch it in a puzzled fashion. For several minutes, he stood there, perplexed. This brilliant man had completely forgotten what he was doing! He literally did not know whether he was coming or going. It was made clear by the dejected way in which he walked back into the building from which he had just emerged.

I have a friend who is a popular professor, whose thoughts are brilliant, but whose attention to practical matters is simply lacking. One Sunday morning, he was scheduled as a guest preacher. His mind was so intent on his inspiring sermon topic that he drove up in front of the church, forgetting to turn off the ignition and close his car door. All through the service, his car stood in the parking lot, door open and engine running. On another occasion, he traveled from Boston to Washington, D.C., to lecture for a couple of days. He flew back to Logan Airport and was quite upset that his wife was not there to pick him up. He phoned her at home, only to hear her say, "Why should I have even thought of picking you up at the airport? You drove the car to Washington. You mean you left it there and flew home?"

So much for pure intellectualism.

Wisdom involves the mind, but it is more than great intelligence. It has a certain earthiness, a practical turn.

Wisdom is not foolishness. A fool is one who neglects what is important in life, concentrating on nonessentials. The fool is lulled to sleep by his false sense of safety, when his life actually is in jeopardy.

Every so often, there's a newspaper article reporting that thousands of children return to school in the fall with no protection against some of the common communicable diseases, such as polio, measles, rubella or diphtheria. In some parts of the country, less than half of an entering class has been immunized. Why? Because young parents today have never experienced the great polio panics of the early 1950s or the fetus-crippling rubella epidemics of the early 1960s. They have not taken the time to consult with a pediatrician, who would prescribe such inoculations as part of his or her office routine. There is a serious absence of wisdom on the part of such a parent.

True wisdom is not human wisdom.

By that I mean true wisdom is not necessarily what the majority of people consider to be the "in thing." The Bible talks about the wisdom of this world. There is often a societal pressure, a kind of corporate consensus as to how a person ought to live his or her life. Such a lifestyle may bring a measure of success. It may bring temporary happiness. At some points, the world's wisdom may even overlap with what God views as wisdom. However, the two kinds of wisdom are not the same.

Then, just what is wisdom?

It's important that we discover the nature of this priceless commodity, Godly wisdom!

Probe deeply into the Hebrew and Greek words, and you will discover that wisdom is a sense of sagacity--a skill in making one's thought result in appropriate action. Primarily, the word has a practical reference. In this way, it is different from the pure intellectualism of the Greek philosopher or the contemporary scholar.

By biblical definition, wisdom is that quality of mind by which one is able both to succeed and encourage the success of others. The truly wise person realizes that there is no wholeness apart from a right relationship with God. A wise person understands real life with God-given insights that go beyond that which is simply rational.

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible defines wisdom in this crisp but thorough manner:

Wisdom is a deposit of reflections upon human experience, the trivial along with the ultimate, both superficial and profound. It is philosophy rooted in the soil of life: truth springs out of the earth. It is philosophy although it is not reduced to a system. It teaches rational living, which, at the same time, is good and godly living. It teaches that the life controlled by reason is the life beset by the fewest sorrows. And it teaches how when troubles come, as apparently at best they do, the wise can bear them. Righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Do you catch what this is saying? The wise person's life is marked by several qualities, which come together in a way that we can label as wisdom.

First, a wise person is a reflective person.

A reflective person thinks about life and grapples with the ultimate questions. A reflective person is not necessarily an academic. One can be. However, this person also has time for the practical, the trivial, the less important issues. A reflective person has a philosophy that is rooted deeply in the soil of every-day living. He or she is not trying to reduce everything to a system, although, in one's wisdom, that person does organize life. The person is free from bondage to a rigid system of thought. Wherein one's reflections demand a system, however, one has it. Where there are no ultimate answers, this person is willing to live in a state of ambivalence, not demanding answers for everything. The reflective person is able to understand that there are some things in life we will never fully understand.

Numbered among the wisest persons I've ever met are some who have lacked formal education. How do they qualify to bear the label "wise"? They take time to think about life.

My friend, the late Ross Martin, was one of these. He had to leave school during World War I and never had an opportunity to return. Yet, he spent all of his life reflecting, wondering why, looking for causes, learning. His curiosity forced him to ask questions. What he discovered was in turn applied creatively to life situations. During the 1960s, I wouldn't consider making a major decision in life without discussing it with Ross.

Second, a wise person is a rational person.

The Bible constantly relates how the unthinking person gets into trouble. In the New Testament, Christians are called upon to think through what they are doing. Unfortunately, some critics of the Christian faith have accused Christians of being anti-intellectual. They point to religious zealots who do a great deal of praying but very little thinking. The Christian will challenge anti-rationalism wherever he finds it. We do not put our minds into neutral when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. We seek out truth and relate it honestly to the tough, intellectual issues of our day.

Again, my friend Ross Martin, who had not benefitted from a college education, did not limit his life to personal reflection on the issues of our day. He was a rational person, who constantly plied his mind to learning. He learned through travel, having a great curiosity about the various cultures in the world. As president of the Northern Indiana Brass Company (NIBCO), he studied trade journals and was up-to-date on the latest in employee benefits to the point that unions avoided his company, knowing that his employees were so happy. He also was an avid reader. He carefully read through the entire book series titled The History of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant.

Third, a wise person is an intuitive person.

Never minimize the importance of intuition. I know people who have great insight into life, who find it difficult to be as rational as some of the rest of us. In fact, some of the wisest people I know have great intuition. I dare not be sexist in making this observation, but my experience is often women exceed us men in this kind of wisdom.

At the same time, let me interject the deep concern I have for some wives who have allowed themselves to be carried away by unbridled intuition that leads to unwise spiritual zeal. Please don't interpret this as a chauvinistic reflection, because it can apply to husbands as well. But I'm speaking of the practical agony that comes from seeing husbands who are turned off by their partner's sticky, religious sentimentalism. There's a difference between piety and piousness. There's a difference between insightful intuition and zealous fanaticism.

I remember getting to know an enthusiastic middle-aged woman, who became quite active in her church. Her husband seldom attended. She asked the other women of the church to pray for him. A couple of years went by. I finally met him through a community project in which we were both involved. He was a terrific fellow with a great spiritual background. However, he had become arrested in his spiritual development by his wife's religious compulsiveness. All she talked about was Jesus. He'd come home from work wanting to share his day with her. Quickly, she would change the subject back to religion. He felt like he had lost his wife to a competing man by the name of Jesus.

All of us dare not let our zeal for the Lord drive our husband, wife and/or children away from the Christ who yearns to offer them spiritual reality. God has given you a head as well as a heart. Those who have made the greatest contributions for Jesus Christ throughout the centuries are those who have allowed their experience with the Lord to be tempered with reason, presenting a rational statement of the faith once delivered to the saints.

Fourth, a wise person is a person of faith.

The wise person discovers that, in spite of all one's thinking, every alternative philosophy of life demands this leap of faith, as does Christianity. So the wise person, when confronted by sorrow, uncertainty, upset, is willing to rest all one knows and doesn't know of one's self into the hands of the Personal God revealed in the Scriptures. With this comes a spiritual intuition. The Holy Spirit is in residence, providing special counsel and insight.

Perhaps we can look at wisdom from a slightly different angle to get a better grasp of this biblical concept. Wisdom involves knowledge. Knowledge can be defined as an understanding of the facts necessary to creative living. A grasp of what is true or right along with just judgement as to action. Wisdom then involves understanding, an ability to see the relationship between the facts at hand. Finally, wisdom itself is the ability to apply knowledge of the facts and our understanding of their interrelationship in a meaningful, practical manner.

Haddon Robinson is the Harold John Ockenga Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and, at the present time, is also the acting president of that institution on whose board I serve. I've admired Dr. Robinson's insightful preaching and wise observations for the past several decades. On one occasion, speaking at the fortieth anniversary of Denver Theological Seminary, he made this brilliantly insightful statement that helps me get a better handle on the distinction between knowledge for the sake of knowledge and true wisdom that combines reflection, rationality, intuition and faith and relates it to a relationship with God in the following way:

But you've got to know that knowledge about God is not the same as knowledge of God. Knowing Jesus Christ is not the same thing as knowing a mathematical formula. To know God is to have a relationship with a person.

Too often we confuse that. It's easy at a seminary to think that because you know theology you know God. But theology is like a road sign that says the city is fifty-one miles that way. A lot of folks are standing around the road sign thinking they've found the city. They stand there arguing about the size of the letters, or whether or not it's fifty-one miles or fifty-one and a half. The sign simply says you'll find the city that way. Knowing the sign is not the same thing as being in the city.

As we study the Bible, we increasingly realize that wisdom is not the exclusive property of any one type of person. It's probably worth our while to take a moment to ask the question, Just who does get wisdom?

It's available to anyone, no matter how extensive or modest are one's circumstances. Four specific expressions of wisdom mark the Old Testament era.

First: Wisdom was a gift to political leaders.

Joseph was a man who had found favor with God and humankind. He had increased in wisdom. Even through his terrible prison experience, he emerged as a man of wisdom. The Egyptian pharaoh asked for Joseph's counsel.

Daniel was another whose development in balanced living singled him out, in a totally alien culture, as one whom the King of Babylon could depend.

Powerful secular leaders throughout all human history have drawn to themselves wise men and women whose counsel they could trust. Every president seeks to have a foreign policy advisor who has enough knowledge about diplomatic history, combined with practical insights into human nature and the dynamics of power, to help guide important foreign policy decisions. God pity the president who does not have a little group of wise men and women surrounding them, who can help them see above pettiness and partisanship of the moment to the greater good of the nation. Often these are people not in government. They serve as a "kitchen cabinet," meeting quietly behind the scenes with the president. This kind of wise person has educated instincts, combining the rational and the intuitive. How powerful it becomes when there's the additional dynamic of vital faith.

Second, the Bible gives us examples of royal wisdom.

David and Solomon are classic examples of kings who grew in wisdom, as they repented of sin and served God and His people. These were fallible men, who made their mistakes, but also people who learned from them and did apply their hearts unto wisdom.

A third example of wisdom in the Bible is prophetic wisdom.

The prophets were never popular. But their God-given insights into contemporary living singled them out as wise persons. They were able to analyze the shortcomings of a society, helping to suggest God's cure. Often that cure was painful, and people didn't want to hear it.

A fourth type of wisdom illustrated in the Scriptures is the simple wisdom of the common person.

The Bible constantly refers to parents, teachers, young people, husbands and wives who are persons of wisdom. That gives hope to you and me, doesn't it? Wisdom is never the exclusive domain of the powerful and well connected. In fact, the very elevation to a position of power can, in the process, strip a person of the wisdom that qualified him for that position. King Saul was an example of this. Practically every major task God has accomplished has been done through common people--an average man, an average woman. Think that over. Most of the biblical names that stand out in God's hall of fame listed in Hebrews 11 were humble, quiet servants of God, who increased in wisdom, as did Jesus, combining their God-given intuitions with God-given reason. They applied their God-given faith in a way that ministered powerfully, sometimes in obscurity, sometimes in prominence.

So you're asking, "How do I get wisdom?" It would take me a lifetime to fully develop the biblical teachings on wisdom. Let me just point out four practical ways as to how we can gain wisdom.

One: Fear God.

Proverbs 1:7 reads, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction."

The biblical word "fear" creates such negative reactions when we hear it. No, it does not mean that we are to cower before God. Instead, it implies that we have an awe and appreciation of the Creator-Sustainer God.

This reminds me of a family experience we had when we lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The church owned a beautiful camp in the Ligonier Valley. We had come to the end of the summer camping season, and there was a mother cat and several little kittens left looking for a home. The staff had taken in the mother as a stray. Now with the close of the camp, she was homeless. Needless to say, our two oldest girls, Suzanne and Carla, were more than willing to be the solution to at least part of that problem. For three days, they begged to adopt that cat. Anne and I finally were talked into taking home the mother cat, as other provisions were made for the kittens. Just as the girls put her in the car, she darted away and hid under one of the buildings. That cat was scared to death! Each time an arm reached in for her, she cowered in fear. Finally, in a masculine power play, I crawled under the building and grabbed her. We carried that terrified little creature into a brand-new life. For the first time in her life, she had a home and security. She had good food. And it became interesting to watch her fear turn into affection, as, in the months ahead, she would snuggle her little body against my ankles, showing tender affection toward one who had previously been perceived as a monster, grabbing at her under that building.

If there once was a sense of terror in our relationship to God, it quickly turns to deep affection when we realize His Gospel is not bad news but Good News. When we become part of His family, a whole new life opens to us.

On the subject of growth and wisdom, a very wise friend of mine said, "You can't grow in anything unless you're born." How right he was. You need to be born again by the Holy Spirit of God, before you can experience any positive development in growth toward wholeness. Wisdom does not come when you cower before God, but when you revere Him for what He has done for you. It comes when you accept His offer of forgiveness and wholeness.

Two: We must ask God for wisdom. He is the one who gives it. "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly" (Proverbs 2:6-7).

Wisdom is available to everyone who wants it badly enough to ask. That promise is straightforward. "If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you"(James 1:5). There are no strings attached. This is God's unequivocal promise to us. But your prayer for wisdom must be specific, and you must trust God to follow through on His promise.

The model prayer for wisdom was prayed by a young king by the name of Solomon. Having just ascended to the thrown of his father David, Solomon took time to pray. During the night, God appeared to him, and He said, "'Ask what I should give you'" (2 Chronicles 1:7). Solomon, awed with the responsibilities which were now his as king, prayed this classic prayer, "Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of yours?" (2 Chronicles 1:10).

God was impressed with Solomon's sincerity. Solomon could have asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or even the lives of those who hated him. God was impressed that Solomon didn't even ask for long life. He was deeply moved by this young man's desire for wisdom and knowledge, so that he could be a good ruler.

You know the classic story of how wise a man Solomon was. Remember how those two women came before him? Both had little babies whom they were nursing. One of the children had died. Each were claiming the remaining child as hers. Solomon called for a sword. He shouted, "Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other" (1 Kings 3:25). What wisdom! Immediately, the false mother was exposed. To save her beloved child's life, the true mother surrendered all rights to her child without hesitation.

Three: You must make a real commitment to wisdom.

We must apply ourselves to it. This involves study, and study is hard work. We don't absorb all God has chosen to tell us about himself and about life in a vacuum. Paul urged the young pastor Timothy to study diligently. We, too, are called to be serious in our study of God's Word.

We will never gain wisdom if we're sloppy with God's Word. There has to be an element of resolve, a willingness to learn, a periodic reassessment of whether or not we are developing in wisdom.

I have to do this constantly in my own life. At one point in my life, I had to stop and make a serious reappraisal of my study habits. What books should I read? What time should I set aside for devotional exposure to the Word of God? How about more formal intellectual study of the Scriptures? How much time should I devote to periodicals, which keep me in tune with where people live? What part of my life should be devoted to pastoring my people? How much should I devote to hard study to improve my professional qualifications as a minister and pastor called of God?

A person's decision to apply one's self to wisdom is a lonely decision. Its implications have to be decided between one's self and God. It will demand discipline, a dedication of mind and intellect to God, to be used to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Four: We must stick to our pursuit of wisdom.

As one increases in wisdom, that person needs to realize his or her vulnerability to failure. Solomon messed up. The wisest man who ever lived made some serious mistakes when he shifted his eyes away from the God who had given him everything he had. We must never forget that we are involved in a spiritual warfare. We need the constant daily equipment that God's Holy Spirit provides. Only a fool walks into a battle without either armor or weapon. Yesterday's victories are simply yesterday's victories. Each of us needs God's help to live one day at a time.

We must make this prayer for wisdom our daily prayer. We must stick to it as one of our primary goals in balanced living.

"And Jesus increased in wisdom. . . ." He combined all the elements we've talked about. Our Lord studied the Scriptures. He kept in touch with His times. He was sensitive to people and how they thought, educating himself to a discipline of mind. He wants us to do the same.

I remember a very special occasion at the end of a conference when we invited people to come forward for prayer. It was a healing service. People were entitled to bring any request they had, and we would pray for it. I was a bit apprehensive about it, fearful of making false promises of physical healing when, in some cases, such healing might not be God's highest will. After a time of teaching, prayer and hymn singing, folks began to gather at the altar in the camp lodge. One by one, people came forward to have a pastor or elder lay on hands and pray for a specific healing in some verbalized area of life. A few came with physical needs. Some came requesting the healing of relationships or help vocationally. But one man in particular stands out in my mind. He could have mentioned so many other needs. I knew the complexities of his life. Instead, he asked, "Pastor, pray for my healing that I may truly have an understanding heart!" Tears streamed down his face as an expression of his earnest desire.

This brother had captured the true importance of wisdom. He had placed it high on the priority list of his needs. That is what you and I must do, if we are truly seeking the balanced life--growing toward wholeness!