This devotional series examines a verse or two from each chapter of Proverbs each day of January 2017.
If you seek [wisdom] like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures… ~Proverbs 2:4
What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Knowledge is the possession of various bits of information. Wisdom is knowing how to bring good out of the stores of information you possess. It is better to have much wisdom than much knowledge, better still to have as much of both as you can.
In Proverbs 2, Solomon was calling his son to listen to his word and to seek after wisdom. Doing so, he will worship and understand God more. This is why Solomon could encourage his son to seek wisdom as if it were a hidden treasure.
The greatest treasure we could have in this world is Jesus. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, working together, created all things to bring honor and fame to himself through Jesus (Colossians 1:15-16). This is to our benefit as followers of Jesus, in that God has chosen to honor himself through our eternal salvation, life, and joy (Colossians 3:1-4, cf. John 17:1-5).
So, Jesus told us to think of his kingdom “like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field” (Matthew 13:44).
To know God through Jesus, then, is infinitely more valuable than owning all the riches of the world. Wisdom both flows from God and helps us to see God for all that he is. Wisdom, countering the disbelief of sin, opens our eyes to see our need for Jesus and the great value of God.
We should long for wisdom, seeking wisdom as if it is a great hidden treasure. For, indeed, wisdom is that valuable.
First Baptist Church 