Students of scripture can be a curious lot.

For some, the pursuit of biblical wisdom is purely an intellectual quest.

For these, it's about books--always better if they're rare, out-of-print tomes--and debate points and--all too often--pride and prejudice.

But, what is the true measure of wisdom?  

How can we know if we have it?  

Or not so much?

James, the brother of Jesus, offered his, well, wisdom around the question.

Wisdom, according to James, is not measured by the intensity of a person's anger in defense of his opinions (James 1:19-20); neither, perhaps surprisingly, is wisdom measured by what a person knows (James 1:21-25). Wisdom--in fact, the very value of a man's religion--is assessed by his willingness and ability to, one, mind his words; two, tend to the needs of widows and orphans, those who can offer nothing in return; and, three, live in alignment with his knowing (James 1:26-27).

Of the many qualities James might have prescribed to the bookish and proud, why do you suppose he chose these three qualities in particular to measure a person's biblical wisdom?

Complete the statement of Jesus: "Now that you ____________ these things, you will be blessed if you ____________ them" (John 13:17; NIV).  

Based upon James' assessment, how might you assess the truth and depth of your wisdom? What might you do--better, who might you be--to learn and reflect greater wisdom?

A beloved mentor once declared, "There are two approaches to the study of scripture. The one is to satisfy our intellectual curiosity; this approach leads to arrogance. The other is to seek to know the heart and mind of God; this approach leads to humility." Consider the relevance of this thought to the observations of James.

An invitation to go "deep 'see' fishing"...In Solomon's Old Testament book of Proverbs, the author personified wisdom. Given the learning from James, how might you describe the appropriateness of personifying wisdom?