Proverbs 4
We are walking in today: You Must Actively Pursue Wisdom!!!!
When Yahushua Messiah taught the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, He spoke the following words:
“They that were ready went in with Him [the Bridegroom] to the marriage” (Matthew 25:10)
In speaking this parable, Yahushua taught His disciples the importance of being ready for a marriage. The marriage referred to in this passage, as we see in Revelation 19:7-9, is Yahushua’s own marriage — “the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
In the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in Matthew 25, we are given the vital key for being ready for marriage to the Bridegroom: the Wise Virgins had wisdom, but the Foolish Virgins lacked wisdom!
The Virgins who had extra oil were the ones who had wisdom! They were the WISE Virgins, and in this parable, they were ready to go in with the Bridegroom. And so it is the same with us today. If we desire to be ready, we too must have the same wisdom!
Get Wisdom
For this series of posts, we will focus on four different characteristics of wisdom, each one of which sets the Wise Virgins apart from the Foolish Virgins. First, we will begin the series with a short introduction, briefly examining the nature of this vital key known as wisdom.
The topic of ‘wisdom’ is not frequently discussed. We do not usually meet our friends for a cup of coffee to talk about ‘wisdom.’ And yet there are many who desire wisdom, yearning to live life in a wise manner.
We all have an inner knowing that somehow, if we are wise, we will prosper and avoid problems. I believe there is a natural, inborn desire for wisdom. Having wisdom is highly desirable by everyone, and wisdom is something we, as born again believers, are called to actively pursue. In the book of Proverbs, the Heavenly Father urges us to “Get Wisdom!”
Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not … Do not forsake her [Wisdom], and she shall preserve you: love her, and she shall keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding. (Proverbs 4:5-7)
The Most High wants us to seek wisdom — pure, undefiled, spiritual wisdom. When a person gets wisdom, the kind of wisdom that is the true, pure, spiritual wisdom from above, then all other tasks tend to become more easily accomplished.
There are certain qualities of true, spiritual wisdom that we can recognize, but only if we are earnestly and diligently seeking the true and pure wisdom from above. The true, spiritual wisdom is a hidden treasure, and is not easily recognized, and is not easily acquired (1 Corinthians 2:7). Yet it is the Wise Virgins who fervently seek Father’s pure, undefiled wisdom, and as a result, they find this wonderful quality called wisdom!
Gaining Wisdom: A Prerequisite
In seeking wisdom, the Wise Virgins have first come to understand that true wisdom is a gift from The Most High
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)
For the LORD gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)
The above verses teach us that it is the heavenly Father alone who gives wisdom. Wisdom comes from the Words of His mouth, and His Words are recorded in the Scriptures. Thus the Wise Virgins begin their seeking for wisdom, by searching the Scriptures, and then putting into action what they read.
We may ask: But why do the Wise Virgins begin to earnestly seek for wisdom?
It is because of their love for their Bridegroom Saviour, Yahushua Messiah! Everything the Wise Virgins do is out of their deep and consuming love for the Lover of their souls, the One who first loved them (1John 4:9,19; Song of Songs 2:10; 7:10).
Because of their intense love for Yahushua, the Wise Virgins grow in wisdom and consequently, they grow in their obedience to the Words of the Scriptures. They begin to learn that the Scriptures hold the KEY to making them wise:
“…from a child you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Yahushua the Messiah” (2Timothy 3:15).
As this verse teaches us, the Wise Virgins study the ‘holy Scriptures’ and they apply its wisdom to their daily lives. They have a deep love for the Saviour and a strong willingness to change their lifestyle, so that they may walk by faith, and thus please God: without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).
The Wise Virgins begin to live their lives according to the Scriptures! This then is the first and foremost prerequisite, or necessary requirement to gaining wisdom, that sets the Wise Virgins apart from the Foolish Virgins!
From this willingness to change ones lifestyle — from living according to man-made traditions that contradict the Scriptures, to a lifestyle of obedience to the Scriptures — springs all the other characteristics of the Wise Virgins.
But how can we bring about this change of lifestyle?
Are there more specific details that tell us what wisdom is, and how we might discover and put this wisdom into practice, so that we may be found among the Wise Virgins?
Yes! There are many details, laid out for us in the Scriptures, and especially in the Proverbs, that show us the characteristics of wisdom!
Wisdom Characteristics
The book of Proverbs reveals several distinct characteristics that set apart the Wise Virgins from the Foolish Virgins. These wisdom characteristics show us that wisdom is not a state of being, but it is a daily walk, it is a ‘way’ to walk in, as the following verse reveals:
“I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. (Proverbs 4:11).
Furthermore, throughout the Proverbs, we see that our daily walk — the choices we make, and the actions we take, reveal the way, or the path, we are walking in. These reveal whether we are in the way of wisdom, or in the way of the foolish.
We can see throughout the Proverbs, the actions of the Wise are contrasted with the actions of the Foolish, according to the following characteristics:
The Wise hearken to counsel;
The Wise walk in humility;
The Wise walk in the Fear of the Most High;
The Wise obey the WORD, the written Scriptures.
The above list shows only a few of the several characteristics of the Wise revealed in Scripture, yet these four are foundational to all the others.
However, we must always keep in mind, that even before we can begin to walk in the way of wisdom, we must meet the first and foremost prerequisite, or necessary requirement to gaining wisdom: a strong and serious willingness to live our lives according to obedience to the Scriptures!
If we have met this necessary requirement, then we have taken the first step in our journey in the way of wisdom. We can thus begin to grow in maturity by learning about and practicing the characteristics of wisdom that set the Wise Virgins apart from the Foolish Virgins!
Now, as we proceed with this series, we will look briefly at each one of the above, and highly desirable, characteristics of wisdom. Let us be as the Bereans, and thoroughly investigate Father’s Word regarding these characteristics. Our goal in learning about the characteristics of wisdom is so that we may become wise, and in this way become ready — ready to go in to the marriage with the Bridegroom!
The way we acquire that readiness is to do what Father exhorts: ‘Get wisdom!‘ For it is by the wisdom of our obedience to the Most High’s Word, that Father enables us to be ready, so that we might be among the company of the Wise Virgins.
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