I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, and most of what I do wear has a story behind it: it may be an heirloom, a gift or a handmade design from my kids. One of the pieces I’m wearing today, for instance, is a Möbius ring. I got it about a year after I began my doctoral studies, and I wear it almost daily.

A Möbius Strip is a band with a twist in it – so that if you trace one side, it keeps looping around inside & out and never ends. The ring is engraved with the words: “Nothing is impossible” that reminds me of some of my favorite verses, Mark 10:27/Matthew 19:26 and Philippians 4:13. In one regard, the ring encourages me to press on with my studies and not give up when assignments (and professors!) are difficult. Deep down, though, that statement means so much more … there are plenty of areas in each of our lives where we need to pursue knowledge, gain wisdom and seek understanding about what the ultimate teacher, God, has in store for us.

We are starting a new sermon series today on the book of Proverbs, and the first chapter focuses on relentlessly seeking wisdom by leaning on God. I love how The Message paraphrase refers to Lady Wisdom and Knowledge (with a capital “K”), as if they were people we could get to know. I think that sometimes it’s too easy to distance ourselves and start thinking of God in the third person – as if he’s off in the cosmos somewhere, haphazardly checking in on us poor Earthlings now and then. Instead, we ought to seek him intimately and etch his words on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). This week, let’s focus on getting acquainted with our new friends, Wisdom and Knowledge.