A Plea for Wisdom: Chapter 1

A Recipe for Wisdom

Imagine you are looking to purchase a cooking book. You don't want just any ol' cooking book though. You want your cooking to be completely transformed by this book. Strangers at bake sales will ask you how you came to attain such baking skills. Deacons at church fellowship meals will beg their wives to learn under you. This is the baker/chef you desire to be, and you are searching for a book to guide you along the way. 

Imagine again that such a book existed, written by the best cook the world had ever known. No chef had been better before him or her, and none would arise more skillful after. In this treasured book, they spilled all the beans - all their secrets were hidden inside those beautiful pages. Not only would you purchase that book, but certainly you would devour its content. 

Such a book by such an author does exist (1 Kings 3), though containing something much more precious than cooking skills - wisdom. I'm not talking about tips to living a better life - some sort of self-help guide to making better decisions. No. This is the real thing - true wisdom shared freely by the wisest man who will ever walk this planet. 

Where it Begins and Ends

1:1-7

If such wisdom comes so freely, let us not saturate ourselves in it. But first, we must discover if these words are for us. They are, after all, not for everyone - not even every man and woman who desires to attain wisdom. There is a key stipulation from which the book thereafter flows forth.

In order for any of this book to affect me - in order for me to receive any kind of knowledge, prudence, justice, equity, etc.; I must "fear The Lord." This, according to the wisest man, is fundamental. 

"The fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge."

A house cannot be built without a foundation. It is imperative to the structure. Likewise, wisdom can only begin to be found when a fear of The Lord is present. That is why this book is not for every reader. A reader who has no interest in fearing The Lord has no interest in wisdom. Because just as wisdom begins with fear, the lack of fear is where it ends. There can be no wisdom without it. A reader so intentionally devoid of it may as well live for the moment until his or her moments run dry. They are all fools who despise wisdom and instruction (1:7). 

Before the Wilderness

1:8-9

When you live at home, there is a safety each of us will probably never feel again. Like chicks under the wing of the hen are we until that moment we pack our bags and step out the front door. Do not use those years carelessly. They are vital to your survival in this sin-scarred planet. 

Where does Solomon begin his discourse on wisdom? The home. It starts at home. He implores sons and daughters to listen to the instructions of their fathers and the rules of their mothers. Note something extremely important here. It is assumed that parents will teach godly wisdom. Children here are not instructed to blindly follow prideful, sinful direction from their parents. Therefore, parents, need your child be cautious of your instruction? Make sure that is not the case. 

However, when the child is still in the home, and assuming the instruction and law is sound; wisdom is to be found first in the home. It is a training ground - a haven for learning. For if a child learns under sound wisdom at home, they will leave for college or career looking like princes and princesses compared to the rest of the world. Crowns of wisdom will be atop the young man's head and priceless jewlery will adorn the young woman's neck. They will be prepared for the wilderness they are about to face. 

Pregnant Temptation

1:10: "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent."

Young adults, Solomon was not naive about sin. He knew it was enticing. He doesn't warning you against being enticed - enticement is assumed. His wisdom was to not consent. I fear that in recent years, though perhaps it has been much longer than that, it has been expected of the young man and woman to refrain from desire all together.

While desire certainly can lead to sin, temptation is not the same as sin. Afterall, Hebrews 4:15 states that Jesus "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Therefore, temptation cannot be the same as sin. If our young people understood this today, I think there would be far less failure. Once a human is down, it is only natural to stay down. Therefore, when a young adult thinks they have sinned (when, in fact, they have not) they often give fully into the sin, since they are down already. 

This is not an excuse to dwell on desire. It is not an excuse for a young man to stare at a bikini-clad woman. But it is so important to realize that if such a female walks past, and the young man happens to notice that God created her extremely well, he have not sinned. After all, is it a sin to notice the Rocky Mountains and say, "WOW!" Of course not. Yet, there are civilizations who have worshipped such things, just as we worship the body. 

James 1:14-15 says, "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."

Nelson's NKJV Study Bible says this about the word conceived: "Conceived suggests the image of a person's will beinding toward and finally seizing evil." A glance is not sin. A glance becomes sin when the object of the glance take's hold of you, so that you become its slave. This is Solomon's warning. "Do not consent." 

Choose the Path Less Traveled

1:11-18

Much of Solomon's wisdom is common head-knowledge but rarely practiced. In verses 11-14, Solomon poetically shares the temptations that will entice young adults. His advice is not to fight back. It's not something witty to say in response. Solomon's wisdom is simply to not be friends with those people. "Their feet run to evil," so run in the opposite direction. 

Wisdom is first learned in the home, but when you leave the home (and even when you are in it still), the wisest thing you can do is to choose wise friends. This is no difficult task. Where do your friends spend their money, time and resources? If they spent toward godly things (Remember, wisdom begins with God.) then they are worth following. If not, do not walk through life with them. Note, this does not mean to avoid them or cease praying for them. But do not put your confidence in them. They will lead you (often unintentionally) to death. 

The Death of the Greedy

1:19

Greed is at the heart of many of the temptations you will be faced with. The desire for money, power, sex and praise are a few. Beware of these. Identify them when you are tempted, so that you may remember something utterly important. "(Greed) takes away the life of its owner." In other words, greed will swallow you and spit you out naked. 

Nothing and no one but The Lord can satisfy your cravings. Money cannot buy you enough. A bikini-clad female can not make you feel good enough. Power and praise will never satisfy. And your pursuit of them will suck the life out of you until there is nothing left but a dry skeleton. 

Identify the desires in your life which are not of God. Seize them. Do not give them control over you. Run from those who would tell you otherwise. And above all, fear The Lord. Be completely bent to His will, and you will find wisdom.