1 KINGS 3:23-25: And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the
dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.'” Then
the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, “Divide
the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”
How many times have you come across a new invention and thought, I could have invented that!
Recently I walked through an area at work where employees at Back to the Bible are allowed to
display items for sale.
Someone had come up with a nifty wooden rack for displaying Beanie Babies. Anyone could have
invented it, yet it took someone who not only thought of the idea but actually made the product to
reap the benefits. Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do and then doing it at the right time.
Solomon demonstrated that kind of practical wisdom. Faced with the need to determine the true
mother of a newborn, he resorted to what he knew about motherhood. He applied that knowledge by
suggesting the child be cut in two, with half given to each woman who claimed to be the child’s
mother.
As expected, the real mother refused while the false claimant was willing to go along with the
suggestion. The writer of 1 Kings says the people heard of this judgment and “feared the king, for
they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice” (3:28).
Knowledge is important in a Christian’s life (2 Pet. 1:5), but we also need the wisdom to apply it. It’s
not sufficient to have the know-how — we have to do something with that know-how. Only as God
shows us how to apply what we know can we lay claim to the gift of wisdom.
Are you lacking in wisdom? James says, “Ask of God” (James 1:5). Ask God to give you not only
knowledge but also the practical wisdom of knowing how to apply it.
WISDOM PUTS FEET TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE.