January 6

Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
Proverbs 1:20-22

Sometimes we feel completely incapable. There are situations that we regularly encounter that require knowledge we too often lack. There are daily decisions to make - decisions that impact our today and our tomorrows - that take us to the end of ourselves and remind us that our perspective is only partial and our resources always finite.

On one hand we are right to be pessimists. None of us are naturally wise. But what is utterly striking is that while the Bible acknowledges our blindness, it just as quickly offers us sight. Scripture presents wisdom as ready and waiting for our taking.

Wisdom is personified in the verses from Proverbs above (as well as all the way through verse 33 of the same chapter). She is pictured as attracting attention to herself in public. She is not hiding herself away in some safe house. She is not protecting her privacy. She is active in her offer. She is accessible, easily found by anyone. She is available, apparently demanding nothing more than our ear. And James describes her as abundant, coming from God who gives her "generously" and without mocking our inherent ignorance (James 1:5).

But for whatever reason, there are always those who ignore wisdom. For some reason some people prefer living ignorantly. They take delight in rejecting wisdom and get more happiness in hating knowledge.

Let us not be fools in this matter. We who know enough to know that we don't know enough should persevere in our asking for it from the only One from whom it comes (Proverbs 2:6).