Listening to wisdom will make you wise. Duh.
Believe it or not, this idea is a major theme in the Bible. Adam and Eve woefully trusted themselves and not God for wisdom (Gen 3:6), and that choice initiated all our troubles. Ever since, God has graciously intervened, directing his people back to Himself (and away from themselves), as their confidence. For example, after Abram defeated the four most powerful kings of his day, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (Gen 15:1, ESV).
When Jacob had to run for his life, God appeared to him in a dream and said, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you” (Gen 28:15). It took Jacob a bit of time to get it, but eventually he did, as is clear from his declaration to his wives: “Your father does not regard me with favor as he did before, but the God of my father has been with me” (Gen 31:5).
Jesus targeted his own mission to those who knew they needed him and were willing to draw near to him. He built intimacy with and gave his wisdom to those who were spiritually:
“Scenes from Mgona” by khym54 (2007), shared under Creative Commons Attribution License
- Sick: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
- Poor: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3).
- Small: “He who is least among you all is the one who is great” (Luke 9:48).
- Lost: “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
He came to humble the proud (Luke 1:51) and to blind those who see (John 9:39), so they might come to him (Matt 11:25-30). Those who thought they didn’t need him did nothing and ruined everything.
To summarize Solomon’s argument so far (Prov 2:1-8): If you listen to God’s wisdom, you will become wise because God wants you to depend on him for all things.
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