Wisdom

There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. Although they can be likened to twin sisters, they are by no means, identical twins. The Word tells us that while God’s people perish for lack of knowledge, we are to diligently pursue wisdom. It is a nuanced, subtle difference, but a difference nevertheless.

It’s been raining steadily for the last couple of days. The sky is dark and overcast, and not at all conducive to cheerily greeting the day. This is the sort of weather that makes you want to stay in bed for an extra few minutes, and avoid going outdoors if at all possible.

Every time it rains, I make it a habit to go and check the dehumidifier in the basement. It gets humid mighty quick, and I like to make sure everything is working rather than have to deal with mold and mildew later on. Our basement dehumidifier is ancient, and so I’ve been expecting it to give up the ghost at some point. Yesterday was that point.

I’m not a mister fix-it sort of guy. I’m not handy with electronics, I don’t have a garage full of tools, and I possess enough self-awareness to know when something is beyond my purview.

Because I possess the knowledge of what will occur if I don’t get the dehumidifier fixed, I realized it is something that needed to be remedied. However, because I possess the wisdom to do a price comparison between having someone come out and try to revive the old dinosaur, or just buy a new one I came to the conclusion that I could have a new, modern, silent, energy-efficient dehumidifier for roughly the same price it would have cost to get the new one fixed.

Knowledge is possessing all the requisite information regarding any given topic. Wisdom is looking at the aggregate data and drawing conclusions based on the knowledge you’ve amassed.

Knowledge is the doorway by which we enter into wisdom. Without first having obtained knowledge, we will never reach the heights of wisdom.

God’s people perish for lack of knowledge. This means that they have not taken the time to inform themselves, to acquire the necessary information, to study, to dig deep, to search, and to contemplate.

There are also many within the household of faith who having attained knowledge, never pursue wisdom. They have volumes of information, stacks of books, and thousands of essays, they know their eschatology backward and forward, can recite prophecies verbatim, but they never pause to wonder what they should do with all the information they’ve amassed.

Wisdom allows you to take the appropriate action and make the right decisions based on the knowledge you’ve been able to acquire.

Although a wise man will always possess knowledge, a knowledgeable man won’t always possess wisdom.

When wisdom is lacking, all we are left with is impulsive reactions to the knowledge we’ve obtained, often realizing that we made the wrong choice only with the benefit of hindsight. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.