Don’t Just Get Smart - Get Wise

“Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding!”

Proverbs 4:7 - MSG

It was a silly old television show called Get Smart. In the show, Maxwell Smart often found himself in difficult situations because, although he was determined to do the right thing, he wasn't always very wise or careful in how he went about it. The humor came from watching him stumble through situations that might have turned out very differently if he had simply exercised a little more wisdom.

The show made a point without intending to: being smart isn't always enough. You can have knowledge and still make foolish decisions. You can know what is right and still choose what is wrong. You can have good intentions and still make a mess of things.

Today’s verse reminds us that God wants something more for us than simply filling our minds with knowledge. He says, “Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!” Notice the urgency in those words. God isn't offering wisdom as one item among many on a long spiritual checklist. He says, in effect, Put this at the top of your list. Make it a priority. Seek wisdom. Seek understanding.

Why? Because knowledge tells you what is true, but wisdom teaches you how to live according to that truth. Understanding helps you see what God is saying. Wisdom helps you know what to do with what God is saying.

You can read your Bible every day and gain knowledge. You can listen to sermons, attend church, study Scripture, and learn more about God. All of that is good. But God's desire is that what you learn doesn't simply remain in your head. He wants it to make its way into your heart and then into the way you live. That's wisdom.

Wisdom is learning to walk through everyday life with a heart shaped by God's truth rather than by the world's noise. It is knowing when to speak and when to remain silent. It is choosing humility when pride would be easier. It is responding with grace when anger feels justified. It is knowing when to move forward and when to wait. It is learning to see circumstances not merely through your own understanding, but through God’s perspective.

The world will continually encourage you to pursue what can be measured—money, possessions, accomplishments, recognition, and success. But Scripture points us toward something far more valuable. Wisdom helps guard your steps. Wisdom helps shape your decisions.

And Scripture makes an important distinction between earthly wisdom and the wisdom that comes from God. Earthly wisdom is often driven by self—what I want, what benefits me, what makes me look good, what gives me control. But heavenly wisdom produces something very different: purity, peace, gentleness, humility, mercy, and sincerity.

That's why getting wise is far more important than simply getting smart. Being smart can help you know more. Being wise helps you live better.

And ultimately, biblical wisdom isn't about becoming the smartest person in the room. It's about becoming the person who is willing to listen to God, trust His direction, and put His truth into practice.

So, pause for a moment today and let the words of Proverbs 4:7 settle deeply into your heart:

“Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!”

Pursue wisdom. Read your Bible. Learn about God. Go to church. But more importantly, take what God teaches you and allow it to shape the way you think, speak, choose, respond, and live.

Don't just get smart. Get wise.

Prayer

Lord, help me to value what You value. Teach me to seek wisdom above everything else so I can live out Your truth with humility and grace. Help me not to be satisfied with simply knowing Your Word. Teach me how to apply it to my everyday life. When I don't know what to do, give me wisdom. When I am tempted to follow my own understanding, remind me to seek Your direction. Shape my choices, steady my steps, and make me wise—not merely in what I know, but in how I live.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen…

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