(Proverbs 4:7)
I am the 2nd child of my parents.
They had 4 children: Yakubu, Haruna (me), Bitrus and Mero (the only girl).
When I was in Primary School, I had a friend and classmate who was the last of 6 siblings. When we were in Primary 6 in 1978 as 10-year-olds, my elder brother Yakubu was 12. My friend’s eldest brother was 24! The 2nd born was 22!
So, while I grew up with a sibling that was 2 years older than me and another one 3 years younger, my friend grew up with siblings that were 14, 12, 10 years older than him.
I went to visit him one weekend and his eldest sibling had a few friends around; they were playing ping pong at the backyard and my friend and I stood by, watching them play.
At some point, the 24-year-old bother who was playing said, “Haruna, I hope you are aware my hand can hit you where you’re standing?”
I replied, “Woah! I didn’t know your hand is THAT long!”
And everybody broke out in laughter- including my friend! I had no idea why until my friend said, “Haruna, what he means is, you’re too close to the table- move back!”
Apparently, my friend’s brother spoke in parables, but I could not decipher it- it was beyond my understanding! The irony was, my friend (who was my classmate and agemate) understood it.
Why?
Scripture says, “He who walks with wise men will be wise…” -Proverbs 13:20.
While I was walking with siblings of my age range, my friend was walking with siblings who were TWICE his age! Naturally, he understood things I had no idea of.
Now, there are 2 instruments that are similar in name but radically different in function: the THERMOSTAT and the THERMOMETER.
The THERMOSTAT regulates its environment to its temperature, the THERMOMETER regulates itself to the temperature of its environment.
The Air Conditioner is a THERMOSTAT: it regulates the environment to conform to its own temperature. If the atmosphere is 25° and the Air Conditioner is 16°, with time the atmosphere will reduce to 16°: it will conform to the THERMOSTAT (Air Conditioner).
On the other hand, the THERMOMETER will regulate itself to the surrounding temperature. That is why it is used to check Body Temperature: it will regulate itself to your body temperature when placed on your body.
That is how WISDOM is. Those who don’t have it are THERMOMETERS: if they are placed close to WISDOM, they will regulate themselves to their environment. Those who have it are THERMOSTATS: they will regulate the environment to themselves. Jesus was a THERMOSTAT: with time, His Disciples became like Him, they gleaned WISDOM from Him! At some point, their only identity was “…They had been with Jesus”
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” -Acts 4:13.
TPT puts it more succinctly: “The council members were astonished as they witnessed the bold courage of Peter and John, especially when they discovered that they were just ordinary men who had never had religious training. Then they began to understand the effect Jesus had on them simply by spending time with Him.”
WHO YOU WALK WITH WILL ULTIMATELY DECIDE THE LEVEL OF YOUR WISDOM!
Rehoboam was crowned King over Israel after his father, Solomon; but he lost the Kingdom because he had foolish friends whose counsel he chose to take. You cannot be wiser than your crew. Those you move around with; your inner caucus will always determine how your life will pan out.
A friend was married to a woman whose closest friends were divorced women. She always hung out with them, always in their company, always on the phone with them. A few years later, she filed for divorce: like the THERMOMETER, she regulated her temperature to the temperature of her environment.
Her ex-husband moved on and remarried in 4 years. 10 years after the divorce, she is still single, still hanging with the same crew. The irony is she says she wants to remarry!
I have seen this play out in so many ways….
Scripture tells us, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” -Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is best gotten from God- from studying His Word, learning from it and practicing what it teaches.
Another way to get wisdom is to move with wise people: surround yourself with the wise! Wisdom is like OSMOSIS: (the movement of water from a high concentration to a low concentration through a semi-permeable membrane). It flows from the high to the low- that is why wise people have protégés they mentor.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American Philosopher was a very wise man. He once attended a social gathering in his 60s with one of his protégés, a young man in his early 20s. As Ralph was having a discussion with his peers, the protégé saw some young men of his age huddled together at the other side of the room, having a discussion. He asked Ralph, “May I go join those young men? They are my agemates!”
Ralph replied, “No!”
The protégé asked why.
Ralph replied with a smile, “It’s better for them to wonder why you didn’t come to join them than for them to wonder why you did”.
WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING, Folks. Get it!
“He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.” -Proverbs 19:8
Shalom,
Haruna Daniels