ROOTED - Thursday, March 12, 2026

1
Kings 3:11-13

 11   It
pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And
God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself
long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself
understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I
now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning
mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise
after you. 13 I give you also what you have not
asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with
you, all your days.

Reflection:
Asking for Wisdom

Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro

Solomon
asked of God something that he could not get on his own: wisdom! Here the
Scripture records that God was pleased by his desire for wisdom and gave it to
him such that, as we know, he was the wisest man to ever live. This is in
keeping, of course, with James’ instruction to us that, “If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without
reproach, and it will be given to him” (1:5).

Oxford
defines wisdom as, “the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good
judgment; the quality of being wise.” I am not sure that this definition is a
great one, but far be it from me to dispute the online oxford dictionary. I
will note that it has made the error (at least I thought it was an error) to
use the word being defined in the definition. I mean, “wisdom is the quality of
being wise,” does not quite tell us much. However, this definition tells us
something about wisdom, namely, that it has no real good synonyms. If a good
synonym existed for “wisdom,” then Oxford might avoid using “wise” in the definition
(LOL… make sense!?). Anyway, wisdom is a complicated word/idea!

In
Proverbs 9:10, Solomon begins to tell us how to get at wisdom: “The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” he says. The early chapters of
Proverbs will spend a fair amount of time telling us why wisdom is valuable,
but Proverbs 9:10 tells us an inescapable truth: without a knowledge and fear
of God, we cannot be wise. In fact, the converse must be true: a lack of fear
of God is the beginning of foolishness. May we be individuals that ask God for
wisdom, as James instructs, and seek to know God such that we fear him. This is
the path to true wisdom, and a good start to a definition… one you won’t find
in Oxford.

Prayer

Lord,
give us a knowledge of the Holy, leading us to a healthy “fear of the Lord.”
And from this, give us wisdom in full measure.