The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
“He asks of wisdom, who seeks to know what is the will of God. And he will show himself prudent who is sparing of his words on that which he has come to learn. If one inquires about wisdom, desiring to learn something about wisdom, while another asks nothing of wisdom, as not only wishing to learn nothing about wisdom himself, but even keeping back his neighbors from so doing, the former certainly is deemed to be more prudent than the latter.”
Hippolytus of Rome (c.170-236) in “On Proverbs” from The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus: Dogmatical and Historical (Roberts-Donaldson English Translation).
The counsel of Hippolytus also reminds me of this verse. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Proverbs 4:7
I have always loved Hippolytus because he gives us the oldest existing list of the 70 disciples of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. Find it here if you are interested in doing further study of the 70 and where they ministered.
I used this list to inspire how I set up GTP with regional facilitators and country coordinators all over the world. This group of 70 were trained in Jerusalem and spread the gospel to all the major cities of the ancient world.
That’s our aim today at GTP. We have 10 staff, 12 regional facilitators, and 48 country coordinators (and counting) strengthening stewards and training them to have churches and ministries follow standards for local sustainability.
And notice how our neighbor comes into view. Our pursuit of wisdom (or lack of this pursuit) impacts those around us. Prudent and generous behavior on our part encourages others to deeper study.
I am preaching the next two Sundays in Hong Kong. That’s required me to do fresh study. I appreciate your support and prayers for GTP workers deployed to Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan from 18 January to 1 February.
What about you? How might you discipline yourself to study for a specific or some future opportunity to bless a neighbor with biblical truth? And if not, how might your lack of this pursuit adversely impact your neighbors?