Wisdom

But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you the wisdom of old. [Job 8.10]

I am hesitant to quote much of what anyone besides God said from the book of Job. The fact that there are so many things said and that God rebukes everyone involved makes me very cautious about what I take as right or wrong!

However, the verse above spoke to me today. It was a statement made by Job's friend Bildad. I think the statement is profound.

Wisdom is indeed found in those who come before us. Yes, our parents and elders, those of the generation immediately before us, and the generations before them.

One might argue, "My parents did little, if anything right!" But is not wisdom found in that very revelation?

The thing is, one must look for wisdom in order to find it. One must look at previous generations in order to learn from them. Whether the generations before did right or wrong matters not. What matters is looking at the previous generations and understanding what, in time, proved to be good or bad - what proved to succeed or fail.

For us, it is easy enough to repeat those things that proved good and refrain from those things that proved bad. But we must look to those who came before us!

This brings a whole new revelation to what it means to honor our parents and respect our elders. We are dependent upon them to learn wisdom whether they 'taught it' to us from the position of right or wrong!

Father, thank You for those who came before me. All of them.