Wisdom is one of the most important traits that a person can possess.

King Solomon sought wisdom from God. You may know his story. When Solomon became king, he was to sacrifice a bull before the Lord to make a burnt offering.

Solomon wanted to worship God with such extravagance that instead of making one sacrifice, he made 1,000 burnt offerings. It was an extravagant act of worship toward God.

In a dream, God said, “Solomon, I’ll give you whatever you want.” Don’t think for a moment that generosity doesn’t move the heart of God.

Solomon didn’t ask for riches, for power or victory over his enemies. His desire was to be a good king, so he asks God to give him the wisdom. He wants to know right from wrong. He asks for wisdom to make decisions that honor God. And God answered his prayer — and then some.

God said, “Since you didn’t ask for all these other things, I’ll also give them to you on top of the wisdom you requested.” Solomon would later write, “Wisdom is supreme; therefore, get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” — Proverbs 4:7

Solomon says, “Whatever you do, get wisdom and get understanding.” How many times have you heard someone say, “I wish I knew back then what I know now?” That is the voice of experience or wisdom. Solomon says, “Wisdom is to be valued above everything else.”

Proverbs 13:20 says, “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future. It’s almost impossible to live the right life when you have the wrong friends.

The imagery of walking with the wise means you do life together. All of us need other strong believers consistently speaking into our lives. We need to be speaking into the lives of others as we mature and grow.

We all need to be around people who are going in the right direction. We need friends who consistently support us in going the right direction. There is great value in these kinds of relationships and connections.

Whether it is in marriage, finances, parenting, relationships, ministry, you name it, there is value in walking with the wise.

So if you want to make better decisions, hang around better people. This is really about walking with those who are walking with Jesus. That is a key ingredient to enabling you to grow wise. More next time…

You may read Steve Greene’s blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or you can email him at [email protected].