We are saved by grace. We cannot earn it. We cannot please God enough with the balance of our good behavior for him to wink at our sin or look the other way. The atonement is an unspeakable joy. Jesus did something that no one else could do to satisfy our need. Praise be to God!
Though Christians understand that salvation is a gift, many move from there believing that the wisdom needed to live it out for the rest of life is somehow intellectually derived with much effort or is earned by living a correct life-style. However, just as our life is given to us by God’s grace, so is His wisdom to live it. The Bible makes it clear that though we can and should seek wisdom (Proverbs) it is not simply obtained by diligence. Instead it is given by its possessor (1 Corinthians 2:7, 13; Ephesians 1:7-10; Colossians 2:3). Jesus said that this gift will sustain in times of persecution (Luke 21:15). The writer of Acts acknowledged that Stephen’s wisdom was undeniably a gift and an irrefutable one at that (Acts 6:10). Peter conceded that Paul’s wisdom was a gift of God (2 Peter 3:15). James reminded us that it is a gift (James 1:5) for those who might seek it.
The truth of the matter is that wisdom must be sought as a gift, not expected as a right. We cannot rely upon striving harder for wisdom, expecting to obtain it that way. We must realize that mystery surrounds us every day and that God alone can make sense of it. In fact He alone leads us to awe and clarity. The bottom line for all of us is that we cannot live well without wisdom to make right choices and understand the world around us. And, we can only obtain that guiding wisdom by seeking it from the One who created and fully understands all things. This should be a daily prayer for this daily need for our daily lives. It is as though God holds keys to a world within a world and God would like to give them to us. Why not ask for the keys?