KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

Proclamation:

“The fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by King Solomon, the wisest man ever (2 Chronicles 1:11-12) and the son of King David, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God to the people of God in order to provide them with basic guidelines and instruction in Christian living.

Application:

Some people say "I know, I know, I know," and some say it a lot.  But how much do they really know?  A lot has been said about knowledge.  "If you only have a little bit of knowledge, then you are dangerous."  And "Only a fool doesn't know that he doesn't know."  Having a series of facts at ones disposal does not make one knowledgeable.  Knowledge implies an understanding of something.  However, having a large amount of information and even understanding it is useless if one does not know how to apply it.  Wisdom is often used as a synonym for knowledge but it implies an ability to discern relationships between things or facts and the ability to apply of that information.  Having knowledge and wisdom suggests the ability to understand and appropriately apply the facts at ones disposal.  Knowledge and wisdom are God given abilities.  Knowledge is the correct understanding of the world and one’s self.  Wisdom is the God given ability to apply that knowledge correctly.  It is possible to knowledgeable about some things and totally ignorant about other things.  There are a lot of smart people in the world who know very little about The Word of God.  Unfortunately, there are also a lot of believers who can quote parts of The Bible but they do not live or behave as it says we ought to live.  We all need to pray to God for wisdom and knowledge of His Word and for His help in being living examples of good Christian behavior.  Having knowledge without wisdom and understanding leads to destruction.  The devil knows who God is and chose not to obey Him and to go against Him. (James 2:19)  Having knowledge without the appropriate actions is useless. (James 2:17)