“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars.” (Proverbs 9:1) This verse says that wisdom decided to build her own house, and built it up over seven pillars - not six, or eight, but seven. In the Bible, the number seven represents perfection, therefore, wisdom is perfect.
Though they seem similar, wisdom and knowledge are different. Knowledge is gained through books, school, university and experience. However, wisdom is a gift from God. A person can have a lot of knowledge but that does not make him wise. Wisdom makes educated men successful and gives them astounding results in a crisis or a difficult situation.
Wisdom and God were partners when creating the world: “Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men.” (Proverbs 8.30-31) In fact, God’s greatest revelation to man is that He wants to be our partner. He knows that to be prosperous, to enjoy the best of our land and be successful, we have to have a partnership with Him. This is the first pillar hewn out by wise men.
In life, there are different obstacles and different challenges. Wisdom is needed to create new ideas and to make right decisions. In the same way a miner cries, sweats and even hurts himself to get to the hidden treasure, this treasure is also hidden, waiting to be discovered by someone who has received wisdom from on High, like Solomon and many other wise men (God’s partners).
The question is, how can you have a partnership with God? Let’s examine the following verse: “Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel.” (Ruth 4.7). The taking off of sandals and giving them to someone was a sign of trust, dependence and total surrender. Sandals were very important because they were the base of the body. Likewise, a soldier could never fight barefooted.
In those times, people walked a lot because transportation was scarce and the roads were complex, rocky and sloping. So we can assume that taking off the shoes and giving them away was a sign of extreme sacrifice. In the same way, to have a partnership with God, we must be prepared to surrender our body, soul and spirit and make the Word of God our shoes - the base of our lives. When a person is totally dependent on the Creator, this person stands out because he listens to God’s voice. Surely his goals and dreams will come true.
The purpose of a partnership is to grow together, but for this to happen, unconditional trust is needed from both parties. Sacrifice is also a must. Both have to do their part, otherwise nothing will happen: “For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give him who is good before God. This also is vanity and gasping for the wind.”(Ecclesiastes 2.25-26)
May God bless you all abundantly,
Bishop Edir Macedo
“