November 20

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

You may be technically skilled, you may have education and book learning, and with all this, you can still be foolish, or UNWISE. Jeremiah 4:22 tells of those who “are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge”. It is possible to be cunning and crafty in the ways of the world, or to have “street smarts”, and even so, to have no real knowledge or wisdom, because as our text tells us, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”. JESUS is our wisdom, because 1Cor.1:30 says that God has made Jesus to be our “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption”. Does our lifestyle proclaim that we honor God and know His Son? That is the only true wisdom. Can we make a claim that we have wisdom, (OR EVEN COMMON SENSE!) if we make more provision for leaving this life than we do for entering the next one. We live life as it were on the edge of a steep eternity watching our fellows drop off one by one and realizing that at some point we must do the same; and yet what provision do we make? We dance on the edge of this cliff, hopping and skipping with scarcely a thought of the inevitable. Can we make a claim to wisdom, foresight or even sanity if we do not prepare? The first glimmer, the first spark of wisdom is to realize that God is our maker and then to reverence and honor Him by surrendering our heart and life to Jesus, who the Bible says is “made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.’’ There you have it. If you have Jesus, you have it all.

Commentary by Francis L. Harris

"...what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30