Information. They’re right up there, swirling in the internet etherworld—accessible with just a few clicks on your smartphone.
Type your keywords and voila, any topic you want to research pops up. They’re so many you’d have a hard time deciding which to explore. FB and other social media eat precious hours as we scroll through loads of posts—some of them fake.
The result? Knowledge overload. Just a barrage of information pecking at our brains. Yet they’re here today and gone in a jiffy. Because, really, how could anyone remember all of these fleeting information?
When does one say, “Enough!”?
A lot of people believe that more knowledge will open doors to greater opportunities. Ever wonder why nowadays, more young professionals are enrolled in post-graduate courses?
For example, doctors are not content just being medics. They see the need to climb to higher posts in their own health organizations.
So, maybe what we need is “enough knowledge and wisdom”? Wisdom for the here and now—so we can be productive and creative and achieve results for the tasks we need to perform.
“It’s a highly competitive field.” “You can’t get ahead with just the basics.” “It’s a ticket to higher positions.”
Whatever their reasons, I salute them. Yet it must be stressful. Learning is a continuous process so it too must be handled with caution. Let “choice” be the operative word.
Let’s learn from one who’s been there, done that. Solomon—said to be the wisest man who ever lived—wrote:
Ecclesiastes 1:18 “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” Verse 14 “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after the wind.”
Translated into today-speak, he seems to be saying this:
“I Googled every possible information so I can be the smartest and coolest person ever. Man, I’m exhausted! Why am I even doing this?”
Yet we need wisdom, right? Notice: Solomon said, “in much wisdom is much vexation.”
It’s the “much” word! It means over and above what is normal. More than what you need. It’s like drowning in mountains of cash and blings and possessions that you don’t know anymore what else to acquire to make you happy.
So, maybe what we need is “enough knowledge and wisdom”? Wisdom for the here and now—so we can be productive and creative and achieve results for the tasks we need to perform.
You and I have met or know people in high places. Pedigreed. Admired for their genius. Knowledgeable about diverse topics. Yet many of them have their egos higher than Mount Everest. Or they suck at relationships—their children or spouses as the primary casualties of their pride or arrogance.
How could they who are so knowledgeable and learned get failing grades and be so clueless about what matters most?
Because wisdom is just that: the right use of knowledge! What we learn, we apply and not just store in our head. So it’s not really a warehouse-full of knowledge that we need to covet. It is choosing the right information or getting the proper training so that we can make wise decisions.
Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Yet this is the key: “The fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” Proverbs 9:10.
