Pondering Proverbs 3:7

My personal mission statement at St. John’s College boils down to the pursuit of wisdom and understanding. I’m not thinking about the kind of knowledgeable skill gained that will enable me to have some “noble” profession. I can get that from St. John’s and most other colleges well enough. Frankly, my pursuit of wisdom has little to do with my presence at this school. But the Holy Spirit has taught me much through the readings here. While wandering in the realm of man’s philosophies, the truth that

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding

(Proverbs 9:10 NASB)

has been revealed to and impressed upon my mind. The pursuit of wisdom and understanding is not something I hope to attain to as an individual effort, but instead as the blossoming of my relationship with the Lord.
To find wisdom I must press into God, and what wisdom reveals, I trust, will keep me in the light of His presence. Grabbing hold of wisdom I must necessarily take hold of His hand, and visa versa.
I want to live according to God’s laws and with God. I want to be wise. I want to be a man of understanding. And these things I want not to boast in my own mind or faculties, because what little I’ve heard wisdom whisper in my ear has told me that I am not my own. Wisdom can be mine only if God has given her to me. I want wisdom because God holds her, and He has put her within my reach to be grasped in my lowliness. For I know Christ Jesus to be

to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord”

(I Corinthians 1:30-31).

And I must remember this proverb:

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil

(Proverbs 3:7).

The pursuit of wisdom and understanding is not a simple matter of desire as Plato suggests; the love of learning is not the love of wisdom. The love of learning must be coupled with the fear of the Lord—that is, reverence for His glory and goodness, and trembling before His power and sovereignty—which inspires obedience to His instruction. I can’t do this on my own. I can’t live according to God’s ways without the mercy, grace, instruction, and chastisement from God through fellowship with the Holy Spirit and the brethren. I want to be wise in God’s eyes. And so the philosophy I seek is not a philosophy of living comfortably or pleasantly or happily, but rather one of living best, simply, rightly, and conscientiously in the life proffered by my Savior.
Truth in philosophy invariably takes us to the heart of God. In this quest I consider myself a resolute pilgrim.