“When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.” Proverbs 21:11 NIV
Put another way, “Listen to your elder’s advice. Not because they are always right but because they have more experience of being wrong…” (Anonymous). I’ve mentioned before that there is no short cut to maturity. The same can be said for wisdom. God has, for many reasons, designed wisdom to be not instantly owned or acquired. Sure, there are people with and extraordinary gift for insight and wisdom, but true-life wisdom is gained by experience as well as teaching and mentoring. It is possible to grow old and stay unwise, but it’s not possible to achieve much wisdom without a reasonable amount of time on earth. We can ignore people with wisdom and insight. We can ignore the gift of learning from the travels of our elders, those who have been down the river before us and have a basic insight into where the rocks, currents and turns are. It is only out of naïveté or intentional arrogance that one would not want the benefit of another’s experiences. I believe that is one reason Solomon told us in chapter four that, “the beginning of wisdom is get wisdom.” It seems simple enough. A reminder does seem helpful at times, though. Today, learn from others and get wisdom. #BeTheEdge
