Solomon personifies wisdom as someone you relate to intimately. He reveals how the dynamic of true success actually works.
Cherishing: The Focus of Value
Cherishing wisdom means placing it at the top of your list of priorities. Where you spend your time and your money shows what you cherish.
Do you cherish cheap entertainment more, or deep learning? What you value defines your value in the marketplace.
The Embrace: Intimacy
You don't embrace someone from a distance. Embracing wisdom means bringing it close, into your daily routine.
It's not just reading a catchy quote on social media, it's applying the principle at the moment you want to yell at someone, when you're closing a contract, or leading your family. It's making wisdom your lifestyle.
The Side Effect: Exaltation and Honor
The great insight of this verse is the order of the factors. The fool chases exaltation: he wants to be famous, wants the position, wants the applause. The wise person chases wisdom: they learn, serve, improve.
When you embrace wisdom, it lifts you up. Honor becomes an inevitable consequence of who you've become.
The fool chases exaltation. The wise person chases wisdom, and it exalts them.
"Good to Great" — Jim Collins
Level 5 Leaders are the embodiment of this verse. They didn't seek personal exaltation, didn't want to be celebrities. They embraced the wisdom of confronting the brutal facts and focusing on what the company could be the best in the world at. Because they embraced the process and the discipline, the story of their companies and the market ended up honoring and exalting them with unmatched results.
"The Power of Self-Responsibility" — Paulo Vieira
The victim wants to be honored without paying the price. They want the prize without the training. The self-responsible person cherishes the process of mental change. They embrace responsibility, which is a form of wisdom, and as a result, life honors them with restored relationships and goals achieved.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul declares that Jesus Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Embracing wisdom, for us, is embracing Christ and His cross. Jesus said: "My Father will honor the one who serves me." (John 12:26).
When we decide to cherish Jesus above our own wants and embrace His teachings, we don't need to fight for status here on earth. James 4:10 confirms this: "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." Our role is to embrace; God's role is to exalt in the right time.