Wisdom for the Day: Proverbs 8:11
Proverbs 8
11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Job 28
18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
In his previous conversation before this chapter on wisdom, Job recognises himself as one without wisdom. He says to his know-it-all friends,
What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insighta you have displayed!
4 Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
Although he puts himself forward as one without wisdom, there is wisdom in his words, he recognises that the Lord is the holder of wisdom. When we realize where true wisdom comes from and the value of it then we take a step closer to wisdom and the riches it contains.
Friends are very quick to give us advice, complete strangers are very quick to give us advice. No shortage of it on social media or on tv. We weigh it up and either accept it, reject it or put it in the don’t know box. When any measuring device is calibrated, it is measured against a known entity. I remember checking thermometers when I was on a freezer boat. Part of my job was to check the temperature of the fruit in the hold, temperature was critical to the fruit arriving at its destination in the right condition. Part of my weekly routine was to check the digital thermometers and the way we did that was to put it in a bucket of melting ice and check the thermometer was reading zero. The ice had to be melting because that was the point at which it froze or melted. It was a known value.
The wisdom of man should always be measured up against a known value because it can drift off. That known value is God and his word. He is the holder of true wisdom. It is no use knowing where wisdom is to be found if we don’t actually tap into that wisdom by running things by him and seeking his wisdom. It is more precious than anything the world can offer. Anything else is like fools gold, worthless. If we apply false wisdom to our lives they will rot, just like the fruit measured with a dodgy thermometer.
Know the value of wisdom.
