The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. —Proverbs 4:7
He lay in that semi-conscious state where dreams and thoughts often flood the mind. This night, however, would be different for God Himself would visit Solomon, offering him one prayer request. Even though he was asleep, his faculties seemed to be fully functional as he asked God to “Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:9) This prayer for wisdom became the foundation for Solomon’s reign, supplying everything he needed to be one of the wisest kings of history.
In penning the Proverbs, this same Solomon might have reminisced back to that wonderful nighttime and again since he employed the word wisdom around fifty times in thirty-one Proverbs, 46 times in the ESV and 53 in the KJV. In the text above, Solomon explained the importance of wisdom by basically saying, “… the most important thing to say about wisdom is simply to get it. Whatever it takes and whatever you do, seek to get wisdom.” One can sense his depth of earnestness, almost pleading with his readers, to run hard after wisdom. This should similarly be the plea of every homeschooling parent.
Of course, we want our children to do well academically. Yes, we want them to know how to be a productive part of society. Yes, we want them to marry equally yoked and likeminded, so they will raise our grandchildren in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The best way for them to do all of these—and more—is to get wisdom.
We all know what wisdom is … sort of … but to get one solid definition in order to describe the totality of the word is challenging. Perhaps the best description is found in Solomon’s own words when he said recognized his need to be able to “discern between good and evil.” I would, however, go one step further—to discern good from best. Succinctly, wisdom is knowledge applied. It is taking facts and theories and wedding them to the real world in order to make God-honoring decisions on even the most trivial matters.
To further clarify, wisdom is the “Why?” of what we do. It is imperative that we parents engage our children on the why of what we do, especially the older they grow. “Because I said so …” will not give them the foundation they need to follow in our footsteps. They need to understand our logic, our submission to scripture, our desire for balance from our spouse and perhaps others. They need to see us studying and searching out various matters … every matter, so they will understand that we do not make our decision arbitrarily. Like Jacob wrestling with God, they need to observe us grappling with issues that cause us to cry out to the Lord for His wisdom.
While knowledge may be found in textbooks and other great works of literature, wisdom is transferred by doing life together. When our children observe us sticking to our convictions even if it costs us, we are teaching them wisdom. When our children watch us change the oil in a vehicle or lawnmower, and we explain the importance of maintaining the things God gives us, we are imparting wisdom. When an unexpected incident causes us to scrap all of our plans for the day and show extreme flexibility to serve another, we are exemplifying wisdom. When we have to make difficult decisions and stand by those decisions, we are teaching them wisdom.
Grades may help our children get into a certain college or obtain a job, but wisdom will get them through life. Above all, make sure your children get wisdom.
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