Just how precious to us is wisdom is the topic of my next inquiry but before I get to it lets hear from Pastor Hoekstra and Grace in the Life of the Lord Christ Jesus in His daily walk. Then I will use again the ESV translation and if the LORD gives an utterance I will break in and add it then and then.
"Living as Jesus Lived"
"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father Who dwells in Me does the works . . . As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me." (John 14:10; 6:57)
"We are to live by trusting in the goodness of the LORD. "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (Psalm 34:8). Jesus is the ultimate example of living by such Trust. When we think of being like Jesus (or we ask, "What would Jesus do?"), the biblical perspective is far more profound than prevailing opinion might provide.
Jesus lived by depending upon the Intimate Relationship He had with the Father: "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me." When Jesus spoke or took action, it was not on His own initiative or by His own resources. In many cases throughout scripture, if they are in their proper perspective we realize that men like Enoch, Noah, Seth, Abram who became Abraham, Elijah, Benjamin, Joseph, king David and others walked life in a divine relationship with the Father and the LORD. But it was not until Jesus that we hear such words as these, "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father Who dwells in Me does the works." Although Jesus was GOD coming to earth as a man, He did not live by exercising His deity. "Who, being in the form of GOD, did not consider it robbery to be equal with GOD, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:6-7). Jesus lived as a dependent human servant, Trusting in the Father to work in and through Him. The prophets of old predicted this path, as they recorded the confessions Messiah would make about His ministry here on earth. "For I [that is, the Messiah, Christ Jesus] shall be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My GOD shall be My strength . . . The LORD GOD will help Me [that is, the Messiah, Christ Jesus]; therefore I will not be disgraced" (Isaiah 49:5; 50:7). Jesus would depend solely upon the Father in the person of the Holy Spirit after He day of washing, baptism.
Jesus eventually applies this kind of dependent relationship to us. The structure of His teaching was "As . . . so." As it was between Jesus and the Father, so it is to be between Jesus and us. Jesus lived His life by depending upon the Father in the person of the Holy Spirit. Without ceasing to be GOD, He lived as a man, showing us how man is to live. And this again bring us back to those of earlier days who walked out their lives with GOD such as Joseph. But it was Jesus who spoke, "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father." Jesus lived by Trusting in the Faithfulness of the Father to work in and through Him. We are to look to Christ Jesus to do the same through us. "So he who feeds on Me will live because of Me." Jesus taught that feeding on Him involved coming to Him Trust. "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35)."
The Preciousness of Wisdom,
Job 28:12-22 "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, 'It is not in me,' and the sea says, 'It is not with me.' It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. "From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'"
Proverbs 3:13-26 "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She, Wisdom is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding HE established the heavens; by His knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught."
Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 "So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind."
Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 "Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others."
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