12"I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion.13The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.14Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.15By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice.16By me princes rule, and nobles, All the judges of the earth.17I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
Here, wisdom is likened unto a person - wisdom, which encompasses knowledge, discretion, understanding and strength, is a characteristic that we can acquire and in which we can grow. Another verse in Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So, if we want to be wise in God's eyes, we start with a reverence for God's ways and allow Him to teach us by His Word and to gain understanding and the ability to apply knowledge into the situations we face. He offers us His wisdom - now our challenge is to really seek it out.
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The story of the birth of Jesus is one of promises kept and personal encounters. Jesus came as a fulfillment of God's plan for redemption, and He came in a personal way into a personal world. And, people saw Him face-to-face: the shepherds, Simeon, Anna - all brought, in a way, to meet with Jesus.
In Matthew 2, we read the story of men who were brought from a faraway land to behold Jesus.
1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,2saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
We're told that Herod was troubled at this news. He summoned the religious leaders, who directed Herod to that passage in Micah that said that he would be born in Bethlehem. He dispatched the wise men to Bethlehem, as we see in verses 8 and 9:
8And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."9When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
This portion of the Christmas story includes the concept of following God's direction. In this case, the wise men saw a star, they discerned that it signified an important event, and they made a long journey to Bethlehem by way of Jerusalem and King Herod. There was something indeed special in store for these sages, who were pursuing the heavens and found the One sent from heaven.
The wise men were on a search - they wanted to know the meaning of the sign in the heavens. They were confident that they would find the "King of the Jews." They identified the star in the East as "His" star.
If you are searching the Scriptures online, one site you may utilize is Bible Gateway. The website has released some findings about what people have been searching for in the Bible during 2014. According to a Christianity Today article on the study, the report shows that readers searched for love more than any other term. The word never fell out of the top 10 searches, and was the top searched word more than 200 days of the year. Other words such as forgiveness and healing largely remained in the top 50 search terms throughout the whole year, while words such as freedom and labor spiked during the Fourth of July and Labor Day, respectively.
The top verse searched for on Bible Gateway this past year? Why, it's John 3:16, followed by Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 4:13, Romans 8:28 and Psalm 23:4.
By contrast, according to another Christianity Today piece, YouVersion had Romans 12:2 in its top slot of searched Bible verses, followed by Philippians 4:8, Philippians 4:6, Jeremiah 29:11, and Matthew 6:33.
As CT points out, the two studies had only three verses in common in their respective top 10 lists: Philippians 4:6, Jeremiah 29:11, and Proverbs 3:5. CT says that this suggests a "discrepancy in what Bible readers seek for themselves versus what they think others should read."
I think there are three action verbs that we can take away from this portion of the story of the Wise Men. One is preparing. Another is searching. The third is acting. Consider this about these Magi:
They were learned men. They knew that the star in the East signified that something special was occurring. That's not to say that they were necessarily true believers, but they were scholars who had apparently spent time studying the stars. Their study prepared them to be able to analyze what they saw. Likewise for us as believers - it's helpful that we are studied up - and prayed up - so that we can have a sense of God's wisdom and understanding to discern what is taking place in and around our lives and to have a working knowledge of God's principles.
The Wise Men were knowledge about the Scriptures and the stars, and they wanted to know more. This thirst for knowledge propelled them to actually take a journey from what is presumed to be a far country. They wanted to know the meaning of the star, and they were willing to take the steps to back up their search. Sometimes we can sit and wonder without searching diligently. Sometimes we can search - to a point - but never take the necessary steps to gain the knowledge we need. Searching coupled with diligent, Spirit-led action can bring significant results.
As CT points out, the two studies had only three verses in common in their respective top 10 lists: Philippians 4:6, Jeremiah 29:11, and Proverbs 3:5. CT says that this suggests a "discrepancy in what Bible readers seek for themselves versus what they think others should read."
I think there are three action verbs that we can take away from this portion of the story of the Wise Men. One is preparing. Another is searching. The third is acting. Consider this about these Magi:
They were learned men. They knew that the star in the East signified that something special was occurring. That's not to say that they were necessarily true believers, but they were scholars who had apparently spent time studying the stars. Their study prepared them to be able to analyze what they saw. Likewise for us as believers - it's helpful that we are studied up - and prayed up - so that we can have a sense of God's wisdom and understanding to discern what is taking place in and around our lives and to have a working knowledge of God's principles.
The Wise Men were knowledge about the Scriptures and the stars, and they wanted to know more. This thirst for knowledge propelled them to actually take a journey from what is presumed to be a far country. They wanted to know the meaning of the star, and they were willing to take the steps to back up their search. Sometimes we can sit and wonder without searching diligently. Sometimes we can search - to a point - but never take the necessary steps to gain the knowledge we need. Searching coupled with diligent, Spirit-led action can bring significant results.
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