“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching.”
(Prov 4:1-2NIV)
Solomon, without doubt, was one of the greatest and wisest men that ever walked the face of this earth. His wisdom and greatness so amazed the people of his day that they penned this down about him:
“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite — wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”
(1Kings 4:29-34NIV)
Look at that. First, they acknowledged that God was the source of Solomon’s wisdom. That implies that anyone who wants to be truly wise must take God seriously. Second, they made it clear that the wisdom God gave him was beyond what anybody could describe or fathom – it was measureless. Third, they showed that he was wiser than all other men of his time that were known to be wise. Fourth, they gave us some examples of the manifestations of this man’s wisdom – some of the things he did with his wisdom. Finally, they told us that his wisdom attracted learners to him from different parts of the world.
But then, though Solomon was so wise that people everywhere came to learn wisdom from him, it is painful to know that those closest to him, especially his sons, did not learn much from him. He himself expressed his displeasure about this, as he thought about who would replace him as king, when he said, “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.” (Eccl 2:18-20NIV)
Did you see that? Solomon himself could tell that no one around him was showing any promise of being wise enough to manage well and build upon the kingdom and resources he would be leaving behind. And just as he had thought, when he was gone, his son that became king after him almost lost everything through his foolishness. It was God’s mercy that made him retain only two of the twelve tribes of Israel for himself. (Cf. 1Kings 12:1-24)
Now why was this so? Why was this wise man unable to raise a wise successor in his stead? First, it was because wisdom is not what one man can give to another man – only God can give it. So, if you want wisdom and its expression in your life, as I said before, you need to take God seriously. Second, it was because those around him did not pay attention to his teachings. In our opening text, we find this man telling his sons to pay close attention to his instructions and teachings, for what was he giving them was sound doctrine. In fact, in the verses that follow the ones above, he makes it clear that it was his own father that taught him to seek from God wisdom and understanding above all things. And that explains why all that he asked of God was wisdom, when He came to him and asked him to tell Him what he wanted Him to do for him. (Cf. 1Kings 3:4-15; Prov 4:3-5)
But did his sons pay attention to his teachings? No! Did they, as he did, seek God’s face for wisdom to live and lead? No! So, when the opportunity finally came for one of them to lead the vast kingdom their father had left behind and to manage the great wealth he had bestowed on the land, he messed it up. And the rest is now history.
What, then, is the point of all this? It is that being around or being related to wise, intelligent, righteous, wealthy or great people will not naturally make us wise, intelligent, righteous, wealthy or great people too. If we do not consciously learn from them the secrets of the good virtues that we see in their lives and imbibe them, all we will have to tell are just useless stories of the good times we had with them and nothing more. Our own lives will not manifest any of those good virtues that made their lives adorable.
So, don’t waste whatever privilege or opportunity you have to be a part of the life of a great, wise, popular, intelligent, wealthy or righteous person. Instead, make the most of it to learn every good thing you can learn from them. That is because you never can tell when you too may be called up to function in their capacity. And then you will not be wishing you had taken learning from them very seriously.
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By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 23, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 19