Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. Proverbs 4:8
As we are getting wisdom and understanding it would benefit us to know why we should prize it so highly. That is what this wise father does next as he is seeking to teach his childern. He does so by personifying wisdom as a lady who will begin showing those who value her with wonderful things. There are several things he tells his son in this way - pictures that he will not forget.
Prize her . . . this is the first thing he is told to do. The idea here is that this young man should lift up and exalt wisdom. He should give wisdom and understanding a marvelous reputation and worth. A smart man highly values and exalts the wisdom of God in his life. He puts a premium upon it - and makes obtaining it a priority. The son is told that if he does this - Wisdom will exalt him. Wisdom will lift you up - will grow you - will promote you and cause you to be raised up in position and in your place in life. Here is a wonderful benefit of wisdom. People might not value a person of wisdom initially - but in time wisdom reveals itself in what it does and how it blesses. When a man has wisdom to see the right thing to do - and understanding so that he can practically carry out what needs to be done in order to secure the blessings - he becomes incredibly valuable to those who are around him. Far too many bad things happen in life because people follow the advice of fools. So when a man truly wise and understanding comes around - he is noticed and he is desired.
Embrace her . . . this is the next attitude we need to have toward wisdom and understanding. When you embrace someone you are showing affection and affirmation. To embrace wisdom means not having it at an arm's distance. We pull wisdom and understanding close. We want it and we love it. When we do this wisdom, we are told, will honor us. The word for honor here means to be heavy and the idea behind the word is something that carries weight. This is the same word that elsewhere is used for the glory of God. If we will embrace wisdom, she will honor us. She will give our words and ideas weight to those around us. To use a modern phrase - we won't be lightweights in the world of ideas.
As we are getting wisdom and understanding it would benefit us to know why we should prize it so highly. That is what this wise father does next as he is seeking to teach his childern. He does so by personifying wisdom as a lady who will begin showing those who value her with wonderful things. There are several things he tells his son in this way - pictures that he will not forget.
Prize her . . . this is the first thing he is told to do. The idea here is that this young man should lift up and exalt wisdom. He should give wisdom and understanding a marvelous reputation and worth. A smart man highly values and exalts the wisdom of God in his life. He puts a premium upon it - and makes obtaining it a priority. The son is told that if he does this - Wisdom will exalt him. Wisdom will lift you up - will grow you - will promote you and cause you to be raised up in position and in your place in life. Here is a wonderful benefit of wisdom. People might not value a person of wisdom initially - but in time wisdom reveals itself in what it does and how it blesses. When a man has wisdom to see the right thing to do - and understanding so that he can practically carry out what needs to be done in order to secure the blessings - he becomes incredibly valuable to those who are around him. Far too many bad things happen in life because people follow the advice of fools. So when a man truly wise and understanding comes around - he is noticed and he is desired.
Embrace her . . . this is the next attitude we need to have toward wisdom and understanding. When you embrace someone you are showing affection and affirmation. To embrace wisdom means not having it at an arm's distance. We pull wisdom and understanding close. We want it and we love it. When we do this wisdom, we are told, will honor us. The word for honor here means to be heavy and the idea behind the word is something that carries weight. This is the same word that elsewhere is used for the glory of God. If we will embrace wisdom, she will honor us. She will give our words and ideas weight to those around us. To use a modern phrase - we won't be lightweights in the world of ideas.
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