"With all thy getting, get understanding... the knowledge of the Holy is understanding" (Proverbs 4:7; 9:10).
Our earthly lives necessitate much knowledge and the proper interpretation thereof, that is, we must understand. We require understanding from early childhood, when we begin to learn about relationship with others, and about the world in which we live. The journey continues throughout our lifetime in our educational, vocational, intellectual, emotional, and physical experiences. We must know and understand if life is to be lived as God intended when He formed within us the consciousness of our senses and thinking capacities.
Solomon, in the above passages, establishes the real foundation and purpose for our God-formed ability to know and understand. He calls us to devote our whole hearts to the acquisition of understanding, and then proceeds to provide the very heart of the matter. To know the Holy, that is, to know God, "is understanding."
I find this to be one of the most fascinating declarations in all Scripture, raising the obvious question: what about other "understandings?" If the knowledge of God is it, then why did He make us to require understanding in so many other arenas of our existence? The answer lies in the truth that all other understandings actually begin with the Lord, and to be properly received and assimilated, must continue with Him as the acknowledged source and power of all rightly perceived knowledge.
"Out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding" (Proverbs 2:6).
This discovery of God as the source of all knowledge and understanding enables us to find Him not only in the direct knowledge of Him, but also in all the other arenas wherein we must know and understand. In the daily responsibilities of our life calling, for example, do we expect to know the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in the earthly knowledge we must possess to fulfill our duties? If we do, we shall find the light of God there, in the office, or the business, or the school, or the home, or the church. Our Lord's illumination shines everywhere - "the whole earth is full of His glory" - and those with eyes to see will look upon the Holy in that which appears ordinary, everyday, and mundane (Isaiah 6:3).
We've not really understood any experience or endeavor of life until we've at least begun to comprehend its foundation in God, and relationship to Him. Expectation initiates our discovery as we remember and affirm that until we've known Him in our understanding, we've not begun to really understand. Yes, let us anticipate the wonder of the Lord Jesus to shine forth in all things, and as the true Light of all light.
"In Thy light shall we see light."
(Psalm 36:9)
"He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding."
(Daniel 2:21)
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