Forsake Not Wisdom
“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”(Proverbs 4:5-7 KJV)
Four things stand out to me in these verses. For one thing, we see the importance of gaining godly wisdom – it is the “principal” thing. Also, we see the ultimate goal of wisdom is to gain understanding – the ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil, and the godly from the ungodly. As well, we see the spiritual protection provided by wisdom – it will metaphorically guard or watch over us. The thing that perhaps stands out the most, though, to me is the warnings against forgetting or forsaking wisdom. Solomon wrote those words by inspiration and at one point in his life he embodied wisdom – he was world-famous for his godly wisdom – but something happened, and his heart was turned away from God and folly was the result! He turned his back on wisdom and paid a heavy price for it!
Let us learn positively from the inspired writings of Solomon, but also let us learn the lessons regarding the decline of wisdom, from the life of Solomon.
Read Matthew 6:33; Hebrews 5:14; 1 Kings 3:1-15; 12:1-8