Real Hope: ProverbsNäide

The Getting Of Wisdom

Back in the days when Henry Ford was making cars, one of his pieces of essential machinery broke down. Ford employed a mechanical genius to fix such problems. His name was Charlie Steinmetz. Steinmetz got to work on the problem and soon the machine was fixed. He sent Ford a bill for $10,000. Ford protested that it seemed a lot of money just for tinkering with a machine. So Steinmetz amended the bill. The new bill read: ‘For tinkering with the machine… $10. For knowing where to tinker… $9,990.’ Steinmetz got paid for his wisdom – his ability to apply what he knew to a particular situation. He knew what to do in order to achieve a desired result.

Wisdom is not the same as knowledge. It is applying knowledge to a situation. It is doing something to achieve a goal, not a merely academic pursuit. Wisdom is not the same as information. Wisdom seeks to use that information to achieve a worthwhile result. We live in an information-saturated age but are not thereby wise. It is possible to know a lot but to not use that knowledge or information well. A Bible scholar may know theology back to front but not live by the Bible. While at school, I topped my class in woodwork theory but couldn’t use a saw or chisel to save my life.

A wise person doesn’t claim to know everything. Wisdom involves humility: it involves knowing what you don’t know. I may have all the knowledge and information in the world, but still need the wisdom to know what do with it all.

Written by DAVID REAY