Wisdom Thoughts
One of the more fascinating areas of Scripture that I thoroughly enjoyed was looking at the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. Typically, this involves Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. I think I enjoyed this unit so much because I didn't expect to enjoy it. I have always been one of those people who love the stories in Scripture and the character movement that takes place. Typically, I found the Psalms and Proverbs rather boring and would only ever really read the first chapters and last chapters of Job. That all changed and here is why...
I realized the path of learning practical wisdom in the Old Testament is a completely valid approach that helps to determine appropriate decisions. Add in the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom is heightened that much more (See 1 Corinthians 1 and 2 for more on the additional of the Holy Spirit to the process of Wisdom). The wisdom movement of the Old Testament is very simple and very practical, but I see very few people really dive into it. A wise person would do four things to come to a conclusion on any issue:
1. They would ponder the "good life" or as a Believe I ponder the "abundant life"
2. They would observe their own personal experiences
3. They would observe the experiences of others and the ages
4. They would make a conclusion
Understand that Proverbs is observational in nature. Many of the sayings are not absolute (although some are), but are observations using these four steps. Many Christians struggle with making decisions and determining the right thing to do when it isn't obvious in Scripture. Thus, this wisdom method is extremely helpful and when you throw the Holy Spirit on to that it makes it even better. To further elaborate I present to you this Scripture from Proverbs 26:
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest you also be like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
To the some this, would appear as a complete contradiction of advice. However, if we use our experience, the experience of others and make a conclusion we see that this advice is solid. In some instances, it would have been foolish of me to answer a fool because I would have looked like a fool. In other instances, I needed to step up a put down the foolish words spoken. My thought is that, this passage of Scripture is perfect because it encourages us to use the power of observation to determine what should be done in the situation.
If we all spent a bit more time observing and seeking to make wise decisions, then I think we would find the benefit of doing so rather quickly. True wisdom is having the foresight not to rely on hindsight.
