Experience the Wisdom of ProverbsSample

A Worthy Quest

Proverbs 1 helps us understand the meaning of wisdom, while Proverbs 2 helps us understand how to find wisdom. Interestingly, thousands of years before movies and cartoons, people dreamt about finding hidden treasure, so much so that Solomon uses this image in Proverbs 2:1-5 to describe the way in which we should search for wisdom. The Message says we should search for wisdom “like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt…”

And before you say, “I’m too old to believe in searching for hidden treasure,” consider if you received a legitimate, credible tip that buried somewhere in your neighborhood was a chest full of money. You would likely get up early and stay up late looking for it. You would probably spend your free time researching probable locations and tracking down clues. There is no way you would give up if a few of your ideas did not pan out or if you did not find it just after a few days. Why? Because a chest full of money could change your life! This quest, with all of the excitement and hard work, is exactly the image Solomon is using to illustrate how we should search for wisdom.

The treasure hunt image conveys two sides of the same coin. It conveys both the way in which we should search for wisdom, as well as the tremendous value of wisdom; more valuable than silver or hidden treasure! In fact, verses 12-19 explain that the value of wisdom is its ability to protect us from all kinds of wickedness and poor decisions.

Bottom Line: We should search for wisdom as if it were a hidden treasure (and you have the map!)

Experience-

On a scale from 1-10 (1 being not at all, 10 being absolutely), how do these factors hinder your quest for wisdom?

• Busyness
• Laziness
• Peer Pressure
• Uncertainty
• Stubbornness (I like doing things my way!)
• Lack of Priority (Is this even important?)

Pick the factor with the highest score. What is one way you can minimize this factor’s impact on your quest for wisdom this week?

Pray and ask God to help you pursue wisdom, even when it is difficult.