Acquiring Divine wisdom
November 29, 2017 3 Comments
In the book, The Extraordinary Gentleman: A Handbook for Christian Men , we discuss the interesting concept of the various stages of a man’s life. This article is intended to focus on one key ingredient that a man’s life must have at stage forty (not age forty); and that key ingredient is Wisdom. To give you a little background, the book discusses stage forty as the stage in a man’s life when a man would have demonstrated to himself, his ability to conquer. A man at stage forty will therefore be willing to take on bigger challenges and move from conquering goals he has set for himself to conquering goals set by society. Responsibility to society is therefore attracted to stage forty. The book therefore argues that, wisdom is an important ingredient at stage forty especially in selecting goals that are worthy of pursuit.
Wisdom, the book argues, is of three kinds, divine wisdom (Jas 3:17), human wisdom (1 Co 2:5) and devilish wisdom (Jas 3:15). Divine wisdom refers to knowledge of the will of God for the moment and the situation. Devilish wisdom is wisdom that opposes divine wisdom. Human wisdom is knowledge of the current state of human learning and experience considered appropriate for the moment and the situation.
Divine and devilish wisdom are independent of each other; however, every piece of human wisdom is influenced at any moment in time by either divine wisdom or devilish wisdom. Therefore, human wisdom can either be divinely or devilishly inspired.
According to the book, at forty, a man should have gathered adequate human learning (from stage twenty) and experience (from stage thirty) to make wise judgement in moments and situations. However, at every moment of decision making where there is a clash between human and divine wisdom, divine wisdom must prevail.
How then can a man acquire divine wisdom?
The first source is through the word of God. As the bible says, the entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:30, NKJV). Or in a more interpretive language, Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. They give insight to the untrained (Psalm 119: 130, NET). The bible also says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (119: 105, KJV). Essentially, the word of God gives at its entrance, light that indicates to a man, his current position (lamp unto my feet) in life or in a situation and what lies ahead of him (light unto my path). Additionally, the word has the ability to equip the naive or inexperienced man with insight into matters that he is confronted with.
To put it into more details, the bible says in Psalm 119 vrs 98-100, Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for I am always aware of them. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your rules. I am more discerning than those older than I, for I observe your precepts (NET). In essence, reading, meditating on and observing the word of God are key sources of divine wisdom.
The word of God is therefore able to equip you with the wisdom that is needed to excel as a man.
Conference of Extraordinary Gentlemen 