There's NO wisdom without Reading
I am not the smartest cookie in the class. I am not the most intelligent person in my surroundings. I am not the most knowledgeable individual in my profession. Yet, I have had so many compliment me on being wise.
Before you think this perhaps has gone to my head, making me believe that I am more than what I am; let me explain something to you.
Today, we live in a digital world. Almost everything can be done and gotten in a small fraction of time. Information is widespread and we can find anything out we want to know with a touch of our finger. Instead of reading instructions, we can just watch them and copy what to do. In a sense, this is wonderful, but in another way it is not necessarily advantageous for us. We have grown accustomed to gaining what we need through many other means.
You see, to get knowledge about most things, you may not need to spend a lot of time reading and researching, but I have found to really know God and what He knows, you do. It takes more than a quick click of a mouse or pushing a touch screen. It takes reading, meditating, and studying. This process produces some awesome results. When people ask me how I became so wise about life, I smile to myself and say, "I read."
Reading seems to be a lost art for many students and adults. However, good leaders read. The wealthy read. The successful read. The knowledgeable read. It is through reading that we can receive the wisdom we need. Wisdom doesn't come from a man, it only comes from God.
Now having said that, the Bible does make a distinction between Godly wisdom and man's wisdom - which is the wisdom of this world. Man's wisdom comes from his calculations on everything he knows. Godly wisdom comes from the calculations based on everything God knows. So since God knows everything from the beginning to the end (includes the future), nothing can compare or overtake this. How does one get this kind of wisdom?
It's simple, ask God. God's wisdom requires asking Him for it. First, it is our recognition that true wisdom comes from above that begins our process. James 1:6 NLT says,
"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you..."
The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, asked God for His wisdom and it was granted to him. That easy? Yes and No. God was always going to do His part, but Solomon had to do his as well. God's wisdom requires reading, studying, and meditating on our part. When we read the book of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, we learn that Solomon applied himself and studied everything. By him doing this, God was now able to reveal everything to him he yearned to know.
Of course it does matter as well, what material you are reading and studying from. The most important book for us to read and study to receive God's wisdom has to be His own words from the Bible. Listen to what the Apostle Paul tells Timothy:
You have known the scriptures from childhood which are able to make you wise...." 2 Timothy 3:15
There is no other substitution or alternative for becoming wise. Yet, having said all that, there is one more very important element essential to receiving Godly wisdom: The Holy Spirit. Reading, meditating, studying, and memorizing the Bible (God's Word) by any person will give them plenty of information and knowledge. However, reading, meditating, studying, and memorizing the Bible by someone who has believed and received the gift of the Holy Spirit gives them much more than a head full of knowledge. It allows for the revelation and wisdom we so desperately need.
The Holy Spirit illuminates God's Word to the reader and causes the words to leap off the pages, the heart to be filled with God's love, and it opens the mind to a greater understanding than before where wisdom follows and is seen. Holy Spirit is our teacher, guide, and leader; leading us into all truth.
If you want to know where my wisdom is coming from, look no further; it's coming from above. God the Father, Jesus Christ my Savior, and the Holy Spirit my Guide is behind it all. God is no respecter of persons. So dig in, and receive all the knowledge, revelation, and wisdom He has made available for you today.
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