You have heard it continually throughout your life about how someone claims to have all the answers. This someone will solve all your problems if you will read their book, or buy their product. Some claim to have the answers to a nations direction or all its problems. Yet, when time goes by and you've bought the products, read the books and even trusted the political proclaimer, it would seem that none of those claims lived up to the promises of bringing you a cure, fulfilling your dreams, making you happy or solving the nations problems. The question would arise then, is there anyone who is wise enough to make you happy, successful, and even solve a nations problems?
Before we can answer that question, maybe we better define wisdom. We will have to look at this from a couple of perspectives to get a clear understanding of the meaning of wisdom.
Wise basically means; having or showing experience, knowledge and good judgement, (New Oxford Dictionary). Take for instance a person who wants to build a house. Before this person actually builds the house, plans will be drawn up, costs will be considered and the location of the house will be taken into account. Let's say that the person having the house built had the plans drawn up and the cost of the house was within their budget, and they even picked out a place to have it built. Now that all seems reasonable. The problem is that they did not research on the soil type, whether it was on solid ground or was it more of a sandy soil. Would this be considered wise? Probably not, in my opinion. What would happen if it is in an area where the soil gets saturated with water and becomes unstable? We have seen in the news many times where people have had their homes built that later proved to be unwise because the rains came and loosened the soil enough to where the house ended up sliding down the hill or falling off a cliff onto the beaches below. So in this case even the costs of planning and building was not enough. Research on the land would have proven to be a wise move.
Another definition of the word wise is found in the scriptures. Matthew 7:24 uses the word wise and carries a similar meaning of the word wise mentioned above. To get a better meaning of the word we need to look at the original language. For instance, coming from the Greek, which the word was written in we see that wise comes from the word PHRONIMOS: intelligent, prudent, sensible, wise. This word phronimos is derived from a root word Phren: the mind, intellect, thought, understanding. With this definition we'll begin to see that what was mentioned in Matt. 7:24 concerning being a wise man is actually dealing with the inner man. The definition of Phren (pronounced frane) gets into personal perspective regulating outward behavior," and the root of the English term "diaphragm" which controls key body functions from the inside out) – properly, "how we size things up," reflecting our personal ("visceral") opinions, i.e. what we consider "savvy" (smart). This always roots to our personal perspective ("inner outlook") which regulates our definition of being "shrewd," i.e. reflects personal mind-set (insight). :
Now looking at what Christ said in Matt. 7:24 He says "Therefore" (meaning there is a contrast or comparison, read Matt. 7:21-23), everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise (phronimos/phren) man." According to the definition then, this type of man had to do two things; 1. Hear what was being said and 2. Puts the things he heard into practice. In order to be wise he would have to take the things he heard into serious consideration, digest them for awhile and come to the conclusion that what Jesus Christ was saying was the truth and practice what he heard. The end result for this type of person would be that when this person decided to do something he/she would be building upon a solid rock, a foundation that was proven and unchanging. This persons life would be solid on the Rock. Many times in scripture Christ is referred to as a rock, which is solid and makes a firm foundation, Psalm 31:2-3, Psalm 19:14.
This man that Christ refers to as a man who built his house on the rock knows then that his foundation is solid and when the storms of life come and beat against the house and the flood waters come his house will stand firm. Anyone who builds their foundation on the solid rock of Jesus Christ will not fail, his heart is steadfast, his salvation is secure. This person has sized things up, he has looked inside himself and recognized his strength is not his own but that of the Lord of Hosts, the Almighty God, the Lamb of God for he has not only heard the words that Christ spoke in his ear but he put them into practice and built upon that which stands forever, God's unchanging and eternal Word.
So the wise man according to God's word is not those that write self help books or buy this product and renew your life scammers, or some politician that claims he's got all the answers and will save the nation if you put him or her in office, the wise man or woman is the person who puts their trust and faith in Jesus Christ the very Word of God. It is those who proclaim Him as their Lord and Savior I would put more trust in than any self made, self proclaiming, self righteous person. For me, I put myself in the hands of the Lord, I choose to follow his wisdom and live according to His Word the best I can, for where I am weak, He is strong, and when I fall, He picks me up and keeps me going in the direction of His will. I want my house to be built on the solid rock of His Word.
With all of that said, it boils down to this concerning what Christ said about His Word, practice the things He has taught and live according to His Word and you also will be a very wise person who knows you will be on a firm foundation. If your life is shaky and unstable then maybe you should consider the foundation on which you have built your house, not your dwelling or physical house but your life that you choose to live and for whom you live it for. Be wise and consider the things of God, read His Word and practice those things you have heard Him say to you.
