It can be a little confusing to try to figure out how this business of getting wisdom and being wise works. There has to be a starting point. You have to want wisdom. The next step is to understand that if you want wisdom, you have to want Jesus.

Today's verses from Ephesians become clearer when connected to the verse from 1 Corinthians. God wants us to become mature, "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." So I need to want to grow mature in Christ. And the next question is: How much do I want to do that? How serious am I about growing in Christ— having a relationship with Christ that fills my whole life?

Sometimes it's a little disheartening to consider this. I may discover that the reason I am not growing in faith is not because God has abandoned me but because I am holding back in my relationship with Christ. Do I really desire the wisdom that God wants for me? To not want wisdom is to not want God.

On the other hand, it's heartening to know that wisdom actually begins with God. He wants us to have wisdom, and he has created us with the desire for it. We need to cultivate that desire, and God helps us even in doing that, in Christ.

Are we ready to work with God, then, to grow in wisdom?