Get wisdom, get understanding
It has been a great blessing for me over the last twelve
years to be studying God’s word at depth, and it gives me great joy to unearth
treasures in God’s Word week to week and apply them to all our lives in
preaching. The reason I first went to Bible college was not to become a pastor
but because I felt I needed to set apart a season of focused study of biblical
truths. Not everyone has the privilege I have had and continue to have in
spending considerable time studying God’s word. But just because you’re not a
pastor or a preacher doesn’t mean you can’t be intentional about searching the
scriptures for yourself and discovering treasures that bring illumination and
change in your own lives.
We live in an era in which more versions of the Bible exist
than ever before, and we are spoilt for choice in regard to books on various
theological topics, yet the western church with its prolific resources is for
the most part spiritually weak and many Christians, apart from some pet topics
are largely biblically illiterate.
In Proverbs 4:5 it says, “Get
wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.” In this scripture we see the balance of
what it is to be studying God’s word. Some people study to gain knowledge in an
intellectual sense without opening their hearts and minds to be taught of the
Lord in regard to what impact truth should have on our lives, while others
react against any studious approach to God’s word by exercising little or no
discipline in bible study. But wisdom and understanding are a wonderful pursuit
if we yield to the Holy Spirit’s work of revealing the life application of what
we have learnt. Wisdom can be understood as “knowledge coupled with an inner
quality that embodies a heart and life in conformity with the purposes and
character of God.” Understanding is a “rational competence” or reasoned ability
to fit biblical truths together (Renn, 2005).
So wisdom and understanding are honourable goals to have in
approaching the truths of scripture. I want to bring out of the treasure house
of God’s word applicable words of encouragement and direction so we can journey
together toward the future God has for us as a community of faith. But Sunday
sermons cannot be your only source of biblical discovery. We all need to be
reading the word for ourselves. Most devotionals have a reading plan included
or you could google a bible reading plan to get you started. And as you read,
pray and ask God to reveal truth, having an expectation that God wants to apply
His word to your life. I also like to journal my thoughts in this time to help
understand what God is saying.
So come on church, let’s get wisdom and understanding!
If questions arise that you can’t square away please get in touch as I would
love to assist you more personally on your spiritual journey of discovery.
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