Wisdom has fallen on hard times these days. We live in an age when seemingly every truth claim is questioned, challenged, or spun in the service of someone's agenda. Perhaps now more than ever we need to return to the ancient sources of wisdom.
The book of Proverbs is one such source. On the surface, it may not seem like much -- just a collection of sayings and maxims that a particular group of people collected over the years. But there's more going on here than meets the eye. Because Proverbs claims to be a revelation of God's wisdom and God's ways.
We see this in one of the book's opening verses: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (1:7). It is God's nature to reveal himself, to show us something of who he is. As a wise and loving Parent, he desires that we grow and mature by learning from him.
But we do not always learn his ways directly from him, though that is certainly possible. More often than not, God uses intermediaries -- parents, teachers, or people who walk with Him-- to teach us about the patterns and ways that God works through in the natural world. "Walk with the wise and become wise..." (13.20)
Proverbs challenges our basic posture to learning -- are we open and teachable, humble enough to admit there are things we don't yet know? Or are we proud and closed-off, thinking we've got life already figured out?
Proverbs speaks to us by revealing God's wisdom to us through others who have been paying attention to him. We would do well to listen.
