Proverbs 19:21 - "The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper"
If so, you can relate to this memory verse in the book of Proverbs. Of course, the book of Proverbs is full of amazing nuggets of wisdom and understanding. So what is different about this particular verse?
There are two unique aspects of this verse that I see. First, this verse speaks to the results of having wisdom. Namely, the promise is that those with wisdom "love life." Now I am sure we all go through moments of loving life, but this verse gives us a clue that wisdom may be a key ingredient in continuous love of life.
Second, this verse speaks of those who "cherish understanding." When we "cherish" something, what types of behaviors become natural? Likely, we find ourselves pursuing things we cherish, spending time with things we cherish, and wanting what we cherish.
The reward of "prospering" is likely tied to the implicit behaviors that go with "cherishing understanding." Specifically, those who cherish understanding will always be seeking understanding. And guess what comes next... prosperity.
Wisdom is something I pray for every day. Years ago, I started to pray for this after reading Solomon's story. Three years later, I feel like God is finally giving me some "big picture" understanding that is becoming a powerful lens through which to see the world, the things in it, and people's behaviors and motivations.
For example, understanding that my role as a parent is to guide my childrens' hearts rather than their behavior provide a completly different framework for disciplining them. Instead of focusing on each individual behavior, of which there could be thousands of iterations, I can instead focus on the underlying motivation out of the heart of the children that is the root of the problem. Guess what? Those are usually the same ones, over and over again (selfishness, greed, etc.). The behavior is simply an exibit of that "heart" problem. (NOTE: There is an excellent book that covers this topic if you are interested in reading more - Shepherding a Child's Heart
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Please share your own example of a time when you felt the blessings and prosperity of true wisdom and understanding in the comments section below.
