Acquiring Wisdom

In Prov. 2:1 the father said, "My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you." Wisdom's availability has seemed a little mysterious up to this point. Our first sermon on Job 28 was titled, "Where Is Wisdom?" Job had grown weary of his friends' counsel. He said:
Job 28:12 "But where shall wisdom be found?
Job 28:20 "From where, then, does wisdom come?

Job was asking where to find wisdom, which made it seem like it's hard to find. Then, our next sermon on Prov.1:20-33 was titled, "Wisdom Calls Out." Prov.1:20 says, "Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks." Wisdom is in the most prominent places calling out to everyone passing by. This makes Wisdom look very available. So the question: "Is wisdom hard to find…or is it available?"

Here's the balance: Wisdom is near and available, but we must work to acquire it. Wisdom calls out to us, but at the same time we must put forth effort to obtain it. Do you see how wisdom is somewhat paradoxical? God gives it to us; it's a gift. But we also work hard to get it. This is what we'll see in the following verses. They describe the pursuit of wisdom better than any place in Scripture.

We're picking up where we left off after our last sermon. We covered the end of Prov. 1:20-33. This morning we'll look at Prov. 2:1-10.

Lesson 1: Acquiring wisdom involves _______on our part
Lesson 2: Acquiring wisdom must be our _______ pursuit
Lesson 3: Acquiring wisdom has _______benefits
Lesson 4: Acquiring wisdom has _________benefits