“The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh contain this message. I am weary, O God; I am weary and worn out, O God. I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense. I have not mastered human wisdom, nor do I know the Holy One. Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name—and his son’s name? Tell me if you know! Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. Do not add to his words, or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar. O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.”
Proverbs 30:1-9 NLT
The secret to being wise is that one cannot be wise. It is not that he cannot function as a wise man. He certainly can be wise in form and function, but he cannot be wise in essence. No matter how much wisdom he attains, the more noble he becomes, the more aware he is that his nobility is bestowed. It is not a part of his essence but a type of transcendent magic that grants him a higher level of being, of which he bears no entitlement too. He can not grasp it, keep it, or steal it. The best he can do is ask for it and cultivate it when he has it. The wise man knows that if he mistakes it’s essence as his own, it will quickly destroy him. In the same vain that wisdom is a boon for those who love God, it is a snare for those who do not place him first. Therefore, the wise should never seek to be wise for the sake of being wise. To do so is to try to replace one’s essence with God’s. Instead he should seek wisdom for the sake of loving God. To do so is to accept his own inability and to rely on God. If ever wisdom is thought to free himself of his station, and lift him above the status of others, his wisdom will only prove how unabashedly he fails to live up to the image of God, in which he was created.
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