The Danger of Wisdom
Ezekiel 28:3
“Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:”
Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” The possessing of wisdom is one of the most important things a person can acquire in life. But, the possession of wisdom can be dangerous. Wisdom can cause a person to become proud, and pride will always lead to destruction.
In the verse above, you will find that God says Lucifer was wiser than Daniel. When Lucifer was in Heaven, he used his wisdom to acquire riches and business sense. In other words, Lucifer’s wisdom caused him to excel in Heaven. With everything going for Lucifer, he allowed his wisdom to become his downfall. His wisdom led him to pride, which led him to try to take leadership in Heaven. This was the act that led to his destruction.
You must realize that there is a danger in acquiring wisdom. Some of the supposed wisest men on Earth make some of the most foolish decisions and statements. These men took the wisdom God gave them to pervert their life and attack the beliefs of the Word of God. Does this mean that you should not strive to obtain wisdom? Not at all! It only means that there is a danger in obtaining wisdom.
One of your principal pursuits of life should be to acquire wisdom. Wisdom will help you in your finances. Wisdom will help you in learning how to work with people. Wisdom will help you to move up in the business world. Wisdom will certainly bring success to your life. But, if you are going to obtain wisdom, you must be careful not to let it be your downfall. You must take some precautions to keep you from allowing wisdom to go to your head. Let me show you a couple of areas where you can keep your wisdom in check.
First, understanding will help keep your wisdom in check. Notice Proverbs 4:7 says, “…and with all thy getting get understanding.” An understanding of who you are and from whence your wisdom came is vitally important. If you don’t have good understanding, then you will think you got wisdom all on your own. Understanding will help you keep a proper perspective of yourself.
Second, you must have a healthy fear of God to keep wisdom in check. Without a fear of God, you will use wisdom in any way you desire. It doesn’t matter how much wisdom you have, you still can’t disobey God’s commands and get away with sinful and foolish action. When you have a healthy fear of God, you will find that the fear will keep you subjective to God.
Yes, you should do everything in your power to get wisdom, but be careful that your wisdom doesn’t become dangerous through pride. Always strive to keep a good understanding of yourself and a healthy fear of God, and I believe you will be able to keep your wisdom from causing you to become filled with pride.