When we come to Christ, we learn to live in a way that is pleasing to God. We seek after His instruction and walk in His ways. Jesus is the rarest commodity–the eternal wisdom of God and sole source of righteousness and life. It is Him we must learn to seek, find, and acquire more than any other commodities we may come to possess in life.

We live in a world of rare commodities. Men and women spend the better part of their lives seeking after valuable artifacts. Every summer, we would take our boys to ruby mining attractions in the Blue Ridge Mountains. When our youngest son was five or six, he was obsessed with gems. Over the years, Judah amassed a collection of gems that he had either discovered on his own, or someone had given him. At such a young age, he already had an innate sense of the value of rubies. God has built into the fabric of our being an understanding about the desirability of finding and possessing rare commodities in life.

The Bible places significant emphasis on rare commodities. For instance, in the Psalms, David compares the value of God’s words to that of gold when he writes, “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold” (Ps. 19:10). Again, in Psalm 119:72, he contrasts Scripture with gold and silver, when he writes, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” What makes God’s word more valuable than the most valuable earthly possessions? The answers is, of course, discovered in the Proverbs. The value of Scripture is that it imparts to believers the rarest commodity on earth––namely, wisdom. If anything is lacking in the world around us, on our televisions, in our social media feeds, and in our conversations, it is wisdom, understanding, and discernment. Yet, God has promised to freely give it to His people as they come to Him in faith and search the Scriptures diligently in order to find it (James 1:5–6).

At the outset of the Proverbs, Solomon sets out a series of descriptions about the nature of wisdom, discretion, and understanding. At the climax of his introduction to wisdom, he writes,

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.” (Prov. 3:13–15).

These statement start off ten father-to-son talks in the book. Twenty three times the author of the Proverbs prefaces his wisdom statements with the words, “My son…” The father charges his son to “seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure” (2:4). It is the duty of the father to teach his son what is of most significance in life. Among the many sides of wisdom laid out throughout the Proverbs are the following:

1. Divine wisdom must be sought and discovered (1:1–19; 2:1–22; 3:1–35; 4:1–27).
2. Divine wisdom never ceases giving perfect instruction (1:2–8; 4:13; 8:10; 15:33; 24:32)
3. Divine wisdom is bound up in personal relationship with God (1:20–33; 3:13­–20; 4:5–9; 8:1–36; 9:1–18).
4. Divine wisdom leads to the fear the Lord––which, in turn, leads to life (1:7; 3:7, 8; 9:10–11; 10:27; 15:16; 19:23; 22:4; 28:14; 31:30).
5. Divine wisdom leads to humility––and, ultimately, to honor (3:34; 11:2; 15:33; 18:12; 22:4).
6. Divine wisdom results in righteousness and life (3:18–22; 4:4; 7:2; 8:35; 9:6; 10:11; 11:19; 12:28; 14:30; 15:4; 16:15; 18:21; 21:21; 22:4).
7. Divine wisdom warns that foolishness leads to wickedness and death (1:19; 2:18–19; 5:22–23; 6:32; 7:26–27; 8:35–36; 9:18; 10:21; 11:7; 12:28; 13:14; 14:32; 15:10; 16:25; 18:21; 19:16; 21:6; 29:1, 18).
8. Divine wisdom teaches us not to trust in “human wisdom” (3:5­–7; 16:25; 19:3; 20:24; 21:8; 28:26).
9. Divine wisdom listens to the counsel of godly parents (2:1–5; 3:1, 2; 4:20; 5:1, 2; 6:20; 13:1; 15:5; 19:26: 20:20; 23:19–22; 28:24; 30:11).
10. Divine wisdom choses discerning and upright leaders (8:14–16; 14:28; 16:12; 17:7; 18: 5; 19:6, 10; 20:8, 28; 28:2–16, 28: 29:2–26; 30:21; 31:3).
11. Divine wisdom seeks out godly friends (1:15–17; 4:14, 15; 12:26; 16:29; 22:24).
12. Divine wisdom teaches us to avoid sexual immorality (5:1–23; 6:20–35; 7:1–27).
13. Divine wisdom teaches the value of generosity (11:24, 25; 14:21, 31; 19:17; 21:26; 22:9; 28:27; 31:20).
14. Divine wisdom makes us good stewards of the gifts, talents, and possessions God has given us (3:9, 10; 12:27; 13:22; 19:14; 21:20; 27:23–27).
15. Divine wisdom leads to upright and truthful speech, while vigorously avoiding wicked and deceitful talk (2:16–18; 4:24; 6:16–24; 7:21; 8:13; 10:31–32; 12:6, 17, 19, 22; 13:3, 5; 15:1­–28; 17:27–28).
16. Divine wisdom is praise worthy (27:2, 21; 31:10–31).

Ultimately, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are only found in Jesus Christ.

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