June 2

Jun 2 - Today from Proverbs 2 we look at verse 10
"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul."

Whenever I engage in the strange new trend known as 'channel surfing', one of my first and favorite stops is that of the History Channel. One of my favorite series on the History Channel is that of Modern Marvels. There they show the incredible feats of engineers who designed and built such marvels as the Bay Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Hoover Dam, the Mackinaw Bridge, the Panama Canal, the New York Subway System and the like. They were all built without the assistance of computers.
They were all 'original' - the engineers and designers didn't have any models or previous projects to learn from. The obstacles they faced were overwhelming - impossible - unless you had absolute confidence in numbers. Mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. All that the engineers had to work with were laws of mathematics and slide rules, and they built these incredible structures that continue to amaze us even decades later.
It's been almost 40 years since I've been in high school, but I still remember the torment of having to memorize axioms and theorems for my geometry class. Unless you knew the axioms and theorems, you could not calculate the challenges. I wasn't at all motivated in those days, and I barely passed the course. But looking back on the experience, I see the clear lessons.
Axioms are nothing more than pieces of truth. They are the absolutes that the engineers trust in when they design and build the incredible structures of which the world marvels. Theorems are propositions that either need to be proved true, or have been proved true. The building blocks of the theorems are the axioms. In the science of mathematics, you need to start with pieces of truth in order to prove a greater proposition to be true. It's all based on logic and order. Actually, so is our faith.
God is a God of absolute order. His character is reflected in His creation, and creation is extremely orderly. Man could not 'create' if there were no order to creation. Even to bake a good cake, one must use proper ingredients and precise measurements. Today's proverb uses two terms that bring to mind the days of my geometry class; knowledge and wisdom. I see Biblical knowledge to be equated with axioms - pieces of truth. The thing about axioms is, they are valuable, but not unto themselves. Their value lies in the ability of one to work them into theorems. Truth must be applied to the challenges of life in order to prove its worth. This is wisdom. Learning Biblical doctrine and memorizing scripture is valuable - but the value is not just in knowing them. The value is in knowing how to apply them in life's challenges. We need to see God's order of the 'bigger picture' - His original intentions for creation. Once we grasp that blueprint, we are then able to apply the axioms of truth to every area of our lives. Thus, I have defined wisdom in its most basic form as understanding life the way God meant it to be.
Jesus declared Himself to be The Truth (John 14:6). All truths are found in one Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot even begin to see the 'big picture' of creation until we know Him. Kingdom living is achieved by being restored to God and to His original purposes for humanity. One cannot see nor enter the Kingdom unless one is born-again of the Spirit of God (John 3:3-5). It doesn't really matter where one begins in the Bible, the path of truth will always lead back to Jesus. He is our wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30). The book of Proverbs contains scores of axioms - worth learning and knowing. But it is only in Christ Jesus that we are able to see how they are applied - because Jesus has revealed God's original intent for humanity by example in fulfilling the will of the Father.
Do you want to build something great of your life? Learn the axioms of God's Word, and learn to apply them under the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is wisdom.