Do you remember your mom coaxing you into eating vegetables you utterly despised! Battles of the will over vegetables between a mother’s heart and a child’s strong will is usually waged by a mom who reasons, “It’s good for you!”
My battleground was Green Peas! Long after dinner was past, I could be found sitting at the table with my helping of green peas untouched and my mother determined I was not leaving the table until my plate was clean. Incredibly, somewhere my palate gained a taste for green peas and I eat them with zest today!
Like a mother urging her son to eat his peas, Solomon utters eight imperatives in Proverbs 2:1-4 that were an invitation for his son to pursue godly wisdom.
Proverbs 2:1-4 – “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;”
For the sake of brevity, I will offer a brief explanation of the eight imperatives.
1st – “receive” the father’s words
2nd – “hide” the father’s commandments – Treasure them in his heart as one stores gold, silver, and precious stones.
3rd – Incline – Listen
4th – Apply – Obey
5th – Continually cry after (pursue) knowledge (discernment)
6th – Continually lift up the voice for understanding (insight)
7th – Continually “seek after” as silver (mental discipline)
8th – Continually “search after” as one seeking hidden treasure – Requiring discipline and diligence
There are no “Wisdom for Dummies” books on the market. Wisdom does not come 
through a one-time reading of a book or attending church services [although that is a wise and faithful thing to do]. Godly wisdom comes to the ones who discipline and dedicate themselves to seek God who promises:
James 1:5 – “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally [ungrudgingly], and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Isaiah prophesied to Israel: “Seek ye [pursue and inquire of] the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:…8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:6, 8-9)
God’s thoughts and ways are far beyond our comprehension and we cannot know or understand them apart from His revelation of Himself.
Seeking wisdom is more than a periodic activity; it is a lifelong pursuit demanding diligence and discipline.
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