Wisdom

As I’ve slowly been making my way through J.I. Packer’s amazing Knowing God, I’ve been impacted by many passages – but none so much as the chapter on wisdom I read yesterday and now feel compelled to share. Never have I heard such a comprehensive, practical discussion of the wisdom to which God calls us, which is much more a practice than a gift (as we frequently tend to treat it). I am only relaying one of the definitions and goals of wisdom here, but I would commend the entire chapter to everyone… I found it exceedingly helpful.

“Fear God and keep his commandments (Ecc. 12:13); trust and obey Him, reverence Him, worship Him, be humble before Him, and never say more than you mean (5:1-7); do good (3:12); remember that God will some day take account of you (11:9; 12:14); eschew, in even in secret, things of which you will be ashamed when they come to light at God's assizes (12:14). Live in the present and enjoy it thoroughly (7:14; 9:7-10; 11:9-10); present pleasures as God's good gifts. Though Ecclesiastes condemns flippancy, [the Preacher has] no time for superspirituality which is too proud or too pious ever to laugh and have fun. Seek grace to work hard at whatever life calls you to do (9:10) and enjoy your work as you do it (2:24; 3:12-13; 5:18-20; 8:15). Leave to God its issues; let Him measure its ultimate worth; your part is to use all the good senses and enterprise at your command in maximizing the opportunities that lie before you (11:1-6) to the glory of His name.”

“…The effect of His gift of wisdom is to make us more humble, more joyful, more godly, more quick-sighted as to His will, more resolute in the doing of it and less troubled (not less sensitive, but less bewildered) than we were at the dark and painful things of which our life in this fallen world is full.”