Mining Wisdom

We often confuse knowledge with wisdom. Acquiring knowledge isn’t bad, but it takes wisdom to know how to apply it. In Job chapter 28, Job has a discourse on the lengths people will go to acquire the treasures of the world: “Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold. Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock (verse 1-2, NASB).” He adds later: “He hews out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious (10).”

Such incredible effort put into acquiring precious metals and stones that give the appearance of wealth and status. “Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’ To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’ And that is your teacher? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, And there is no breath at all inside it (Habakkuk 2:19).” If wisdom cannot be found in precious metals and stones, in the acquisition of wealth, then “where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding (Job 28:12).”

It would seem acquiring wisdom would be a complex and laborious task. If precious metals and stones require so much work to mine and refine, certainly something even more precious — wisdom — would require even more work. But Job provides us with a surprisingly simple answer: “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding (Job 28:28).’”

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. – Acts 17:11-12 (NASB)