Knowledge can be achieved but Wisdom is from God

Today the literacy rate is quite high. Everyone tries to study and gain knowledge as much as one can. A person can gain knowledge by study and education but, not the wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom differ from each other. To know the difference between knowledge and wisdom, let us see the definition:

Definition of Knowledge:

Knowledge is the accumulation of facts and data that you have learned about or experienced. It’s being aware of something and having information. Knowledge is really about facts and ideas that we acquire through study, research, investigation, observation or experience.

Definition of Wisdom:

Wisdom is the ability to discern and judge which aspects of that knowledge are true, right, lasting and applicable to your life. It’s the ability to apply that knowledge to the greater scheme of life. It’s also deeper; knowing the meaning or reason; about knowing why something is and what it means to your life.

So, it is very clear that one can get knowledge through study, research, investigation, observation and experience and is concern to the brain. While the wisdom provides the ability to discern and judge the knowledge that how much true it is, is it right and lasting and is concern to the life.

Knowledge can be attained easily as compared to wisdom, because wisdom is from God, as mentioned in Proverbs 3:13-18, “Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things you can desire are not to be compared to her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and happy is every one that retains her.”

Bible says that wisdom is from above and it automatically blesses us with numerous qualities who ever receive it. As said in James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

How can we get wisdom?

It is God who gives wisdom to all men, James 1:5 very clearly says that, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraides not; and it shall be given him.”

In order to receive wisdom from God, there are certain criteria to qualify. They are:

To receive wisdom, one should fear the Lord in order to get knowledge and understanding as said in Proverbs 1:7 which says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Trust and faith is the key to success. It plays an important role in getting wisdom, as written in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

Seeker of wisdom should always have thirst to acquire knowledge. As mentioned in Proverbs 18:15, “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”

 You will have to find out the will of the Lord as Ephesians 5:15 says “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

A next criterion is to listen to the advice of wise men and seniors as written in Proverbs 19:20 “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” And in Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”

How much time does it take to receive wisdom?

Read Job 12:12-13 where it tells us about the time of receiving wisdom. “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.”

What are the symptoms, when a person receives wisdom?

See Ecclesiastes 8:1, “Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.”

Qualities developed after receiving wisdom

See Proverbs 24:3-7 that the following qualities are developed after wisdom is received. “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory. Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.”

Another quality described in Proverbs 14:16, “One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.”

Next quality as mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:7, says “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”

Therefore, If you need God’s wisdom, ask Him in faith and He will give you.

Jesus wants us to be salt of the earth. Why?

We all know that, salt is one of the most important ingredients in our daily life. We cannot live without salt. Salt adds a taste to our food. It not only seasons the food, but is an essential nutrient for our bodies too. Besides using it in food, it has many other medicinal and chemical qualities too.

But in Mathew 5:13, Jesus said that, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Why Jesus did call us the salt of the earth? What does he want us to tell?

To know the importance and qualities of salt, let us meditate in the light of the Bible. In the Old Testament God instructed us in the book of Leviticus 2:13, that “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.”

In the olden day’s salt was a representation of covenant. Salt was a symbol of friendship, help, treaty and faithfulness. See Ezra 4:14, it says that “Now because we receive support from the palace, it was not proper for us to see the king's dishonor; therefore we have sent and informed the king.”

Also read Ezra 7:22, it says that, “up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribed limit.”

What was the covenant of salt? If we read Numbers 18:19, we find Lord ordinance that, "All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it [is] a covenant of salt forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you."

God fulfilled His covenant of salt by giving the kingdom of Israel to David and his sons. Read 2 Chronicles 13:5 which says, "Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?”

Properties of Salt

2 Kings 2:19-22, tells us that how Elisha purified and healed the source of the water with the help of salt, which caused death and barrenness. Read here, “Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Please notice, the situation of this city [is] pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water [is] bad, and the ground barren. And he said, "Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it." So they brought [it] to him. Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, "Thus says the LORD: 'I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness’ ". So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

How is salt formed?

Salt is produced through the natural evaporation of sea water or other naturally occurring brine. Salt water is captured in shallow ponds and allowed to evaporate by means of the sun and wind. After the complete evaporation, the residue is collected as salt.

What does the salt teaches us.

The salt teaches us the life of separation. As to obtain salt, the salt water is separated from the sea and is captured into shallow ponds for evaporation. In the same manner, this world is like a sea of sins and those who separate themselves from this world of sins are called the salt of the world. As the disciples of Jesus did, who left everything and followed Christ.

As it is mentioned in Galatians 1:4, “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father”. Today, we don’t require the trends and customs of this world. Instead we should separate us from all evils of this world and adopt the teachings of Jesus Christ because “God [is] faithful, by whom you were, called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:9].

So a man can only become salt, if he is united with Jesus “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit [with Him.]” [1 Corinthians 6:17]

What does white colour of salt represents

The white colour of the salt represents the holiness. See Revelation 3:5, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

We too have to become holy as mentioned in 1 Peter 1:15, “but as He who called you [is] holy, you also be holy in all [your] conduct”. Because, without holiness, no one can see God as written in Hebrews 12:14, “Pursue peace with all [people,] and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord”. We should also be pure in heart then only we can see God. Read Mathew 5:8, “Blessed [are] the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

God has chosen us as John 15:16 says “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

As 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality”.

If we prepare food with all the costly ingredients, but don’t put salt in it, the dish will be tasteless and no one would to like to eat. However, salt is an inexpensive item, but it provides the taste to the food.   Likewise, we are also very important in this world. We have to share the good news. We have to pray for the deliverance of the people. If we will not do, who is going to do it?

Salt is inexpensive

Salt being one of the most important ingredients, it is cheap. Salt can be found everywhere, whether rich or poor, whether Indian or American, whether white or black. We should also bear the same characteristic as salt and should be available for everyone.

Another characteristic of salt is that it is easily soluble.  It loses its significance and mix easily. Salt gives taste to food but if we want to find it out, we cannot. In the same manner we should also forget ourselves and give all glory to God. People should see living Christ in our lives. As it is said in Galatians 2:20 that “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

One more characteristic of salt is that it increases thirst. If we eat any salted thing, we are thirstier. In the same way, if someone meets us once, they should have the thirst to meet us again and again. If they don’t want to meet us again, it means that we don’t have the taste of salt in us. Meaning of salt is reconciliation. Jesus said in Mark 9:50, “Salt [is] good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”

Do we bear the characteristic of salt? If your answer is YES, you are blessed. But, friends if our answer is NO pray to God and come to Jesus. That is the only remedy otherwise Jesus has told the consequences. Read it yourself Luke 14:34-35 says, “Salt [is] good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, [but] men throw it out. He, who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

See what does Jesus says in Mark 9:49, “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.” Dear friends, treat this word of God as a warning and SURRENDER to GOD.

Why does God loves Mankind?

Today, before we proceed, I would like my readers to read Genesis 1:26, where it says “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

In the process of Creation of the Universe, Male and female were the last creation of God. Rest of the things, He simply ordered and the things were created accordingly. Whether it was of heaven or the earth, but before creating man, He planned and decided few things and then he proceeded. They are:

• The man should be in His likeness and in His image.
• Man will dominate all over the earth and on all the creatures of the sea, air and earth, which was created by Him.
• God created everything in this universe starting from heaven to green herbs. But, the most important thing is that He did not bless anything out of his creation except man.

See Genesis 1:27-30 it says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.” 

Not a single thing in this universe was formed by the hands of God. Everything in this universe was created by His order. Only the man had the privilege that God formed man by His own hands, by taking the dust of ground and shaping it into its own image. Secondly He did not order man to come to life but He breathed His breath (the breath of life) into the nostrils of man to make man a living soul. Read Genesis 2:7 it clearly says “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

God created man on the last day of His creation process. Means everything in the universe was created before the man was formed. The man and the woman were the last creation of God in the creation process. See Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day”.

In the first 5 days, God created each and every thing which was important for a living being to survive. Means everything was created in accordance to man’s requirement and needs. After creating all the necessary things, God started forming man by His hands, with extraordinary precautions, with full concentration, with full dedication, with full emotions, with full perfection and with everlasting and eternal love.

Man is Gods Ambassador on this earth. I would like to explain that as we all know that the President of a country is the head of the Nation. He has all supreme powers and he is above all, but still Governors are appointed in every state to look after their own states. Likewise, no doubt God is the Supreme power (President) of this universe (nation), but He has appointed man as his Ambassador (Governor) on this earth (State).

So man is an Ambassador to God on this earth and he was assigned the work according to Genesis 2:15, which says “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Not like a slave or worker or farmer of Eden Garden, but as an Ambassador and was on the top of every living creature. In the Eden Garden, man was not supposed to work for his livelihood. Here all the fruits and seeds were readily available for him to eat.

But very soon the man was thrown out of the Eden Garden, just because of his disobedience and sin committed, by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. Genesis 3:23, “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from where he was taken.” When he was thrown out from the Garden of Eden, with a curse, see Genesis 3:17-19, “And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and to dust shall you return.”

That was the first punishment given to man by God. God did not simply throw them out of Eden Garden. Before sending them out of the Garden, He provided them with the clothes. Read Genesis 3:21, “To Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” This was His love that, He provided them with the clothes.

Most of you must be having a question, WHY God loves mankind?

Here is the answer – See Jeremiah 31:3, “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.” Yes, mankind is loved by God due to His everlasting love.

What is His everlasting love? Forming man in His own shape and image is His everlasting love. God was capable in creating man by His command as He created other things of the universe. He created animals also by His command, which bears life as humans. But that was His everlasting love that He formed man into His own image and put His breath and His soul in man’s body and the man became a living soul.

We all share the portion of the same soul what God bears.  Neither our forefathers (Adam & Eve) realized that everlasting love of God nor do we try to understand it today. If you go through the book of Genesis, you will not find even a single such condition laid down by God which was difficult to follow.  

The only restriction put by God was not to eat fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. See Genesis 2:16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.”

In lieu of one condition He gave man the power on all living creatures of this earth. See Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God loves us, we were created due to His everlasting love and we are supposed to love each other and to God. As this is the only thing that God wants from us. Earth is not a place to live forever. Our physical body is perishable as soon as the soul within it leaves, but our soul is immortal and it has to go back and reunite with the primary soul (Gods soul). If our souls are pure and clean it will easily be acceptable to the primary soul, but if it is impure it will be rejected.

To keep our souls pure, clean and healthy, the keynote is LOVE because God created us out of His love and He expects the same from us. Following are the verses for ready reference.

1 John 4:7-8, says “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.”

Deuteronomy 6:5 says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength".

Matthew 22:39 says "Love your neighbor as yourself".

Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”