Missing: Wisdom 缺少智慧

[Dexu Xia]

Missing: Wisdom

Give your servant a discerning heart . . . to distinguish between right and wrong. 1 Kings 3:9

Two-year-old Kenneth went missing. Yet within three minutes of his mom’s 9-1-1 call, an emergency worker found him just two blocks from home at the county fair. His mom had promised he could go later that day with his grandpa. But he’d driven his toy tractor there, and parked it at his favorite ride. When the boy was safely home, his dad wisely removed the toy’s battery. 

Kenneth was actually rather smart to get where he wanted to go, but two-year-olds are missing another key quality: wisdom. And as adults we sometimes lack it too. Solomon, who’d been appointed king by his father David (1 Kings 2), admitted he felt like a child. God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (3:5). He replied, “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. . . . So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong” (vv. 7–9). God gave Solomon “a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore” (4:29). 

Where can we get the wisdom we need? Solomon said the beginning of wisdom is a “fear” or awe of God (Proverbs 9:10). So we can start by asking Him to teach us about Himself and to give us wisdom beyond our own.

In what areas do you need God’s wisdom? What might give you a teachable heart?

I’m always in need of wisdom, God. I want to follow Your ways. Please show me which way to go.

缺少智慧

求祢赐我智慧，可以判断祢的民，能辨别是非。—列王纪上3章9节

两岁大的肯肯失踪了，他母亲马上拨电话报警。不过几分钟后，一位紧急服务工作人员就找到了他，原来他到离开两个街区外的市集去玩了。他母亲原本已答应，晚一点他可以和爷爷一起去市集逛逛。但他自己却开着他的电动玩具车去了市集，还停在他最喜欢的游乐设施旁边。当肯肯安全回家之后，他父亲就明智地拔掉电动玩具车里的电池。

肯肯实际上很聪明，可以自己到他想去的地方，但两岁的孩子缺少了一个重要的特质：智慧。其实，我们成年人有时也缺少智慧。所罗门也觉得自己缺少智慧，在他继承大卫的王位后（列王纪上2章），也坦承自己像个幼童。当上帝在梦中向所罗门显现，对他说：“你愿我赐你什么？你可以求”（3章5节），所罗门回答说：“我是幼童，不知道应当怎样出入。……所以求祢赐我智慧，可以判断祢的民，能辨别是非”（7-9节）。于是上帝便赐给所罗门“极大的智慧聪明和广大的心，如同海沙不可测量”（4章29节）。

我们应当去哪里寻得我们需要的智慧呢？所罗门说智慧的开端是“敬畏”上帝（箴言9章10节）。所以我们可以从求问上帝开始，求祂教导我们如何更认识祂，并赋予我们超越自己原有的智慧。

你在哪些方面需要上帝的智慧？
什么能让你拥有一颗受教的心？

上帝，我一直都很需要智慧。我渴望遵从祢的旨意，求祢指引我当走的道路。