Archives For wisdom

Seek wisdom as gold

September 14, 2011

How much better to get wisdom than gold!
To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
(Proverbs 16:16 ESV)

Last week I wrote about listening to advice in order to gain wisdom. An obvious question in response is, “why should I even want wisdom?”

Fair question, here we have an answer – it is better to gain wisdom than to possess gold. My old High School used this proverb as it’s motto. Given the current price of gold is NZ$2,214 ($1.824 US) this is saying something significant.

It’s not as though gold is under-valued in the Bible, it is mentioned 455 times – more than heaven (422 times), money (123 mentions) and salvation (122 times). Knowing how much we covet gold, God has gone and paved the streets of heaven with the stuff! (Revelation 21:21).

Even if gold is not your thing, there are plenty of other reasons to seek wisdom:

  • Wisdom protects better than money (Ecclesiastes 7:12).
  • Wisdom preserves the life of the person who has it (Ecclesiastes 7:12).
  • Wisdom and discretion give life to your soul (Proverbs 3:21-22).
  • Wisdom will deliver you from the way of evil (Proverbs 2:12).
  • It delivers a man from adultery (Proverbs 2:16).
  • Wisdom gives strength (Ecclesiastes 7:19).
  • It is better than strength (Ecclesiastes 9:16).
  • Wisdom brightens your face (Ecclesiastes 8:1).
  • Blessed is the person who finds it (Proverbs 3:13).
  • Wisdom brings hope to your soul (Proverbs 24:14).
  • Whoever gets wisdom loves their own soul (Proverbs 19:8).

With reasons like this to encourage us, it is obvious that only a fool would disdain wisdom.

So what should we do? Get wisdom! (Proverbs 4:7).

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Image of gold bar: BullionVault

In Simple faith ,
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Are you lost on the road to wisdom?

September 9, 2011

Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in the future.
(Proverbs 19:20 ESV)

To seek wisdom is necessarily to look to the future. Any young (or relatively young) person claiming to be wise is more likely to simply be arrogant.

A clear sign of such arrogance is not heeding advice from others. This needn’t be restricted to important, profound or religious things. Accepting instruction is as simple as actually doing what the person in the hardware shop told me was the best way to do a job. Listening to advice extends even to a man asking for directions when clueless regarding where he has transported his family to.

Notice also that this proverb exhorts face-to-face verbal learning. Technology may have changed a little over the 3000 years since  Proverbs 20:19 was written, but they certainly knew how to read and write. Yet it says “listen to advice and accept instruction”. An important element in learning wisdom is the humility to admit to others that I am ignorant, to actually ask for instructions (or directions).

I’m often too proud to admit I don’t know what I’m doing so have become proficient at finding information on the internet or in books to help me feign wisdom. But all I actually gain is knowledge (which puffs up, 1 Corinthians 8:1), and feed my pride.

The seeker after wisdom asks another person for advice, not a book or website. They accept their limited knowledge, accept instructions and sow the seeds to gain wisdom in the future. Wisdom encompasses all areas of life. What will I do today to lay the foundations of wisdom?

Think of wisdom like good coffee – instant just won’t do!

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Image of lost male driver: iStockphoto

In Christian thinking ,
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Here be gold

August 9, 2011

Wrestling with an angel coverI want to thank God for an amazing little book I am currently reading. The book is Wrestling with an Angel: A Story of Love, Disablity and the Lessons of Grace by Greg Lucas, about insights gained as he raised a severely disabled son by the grace of God. It is very well written, humorous and heart-rending.

A commonly used phrase within Christian circles is ‘in the trenches’, meant to refer to people who are serving God in the midst of tough circumstances of daily life. Greg and Kim Lucas have certainly been doing that and what has been distilled from their years of difficulty and love into this 100-page book is like gold. True wisdom that is never easily gained.

I have spent days meditating on the depth of humility displayed in the chapter ‘Opposition|Humility’, and the excerpt below is from the very first chapter, challenging my perception of how big a load God could place upon me:

Break|Equip

I hear religious-minded people say all the time with good intentions, “God will never place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot carry it.”
Really?
My experience is that God will place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot possibly carry it alone. He will break your back and your will. He will buckle your legs until you fall flat beneath the weight of your load. All the while He will walk beside you waiting for you to come to the point where you must depend on Him. (p14)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
(2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

Thank you Lord that You still write wisdom in books by Your servants ( Ecclesiastes 12:11).

Greg Lucas blogs at Wrestling with an Angel

Gifts I have noticed this week (#549 – #560):

549) Firewood delivered and stacked before the latest storm.
550) God kept the snow away so I could preach my sermon.
551) Kids enjoying collecting pine cones on a freezing cold afternoon.
552) Two-year-old son thinks my pathetic drawing of a tractor is wonderful.
553) The faith and perseverance of others lifting me up.
554) Ability.
555) Cooking dinner for a change, letting my wife rest.
556) Politicians I didn’t vote for.
557) A friend searching for ways to help.
558) Getting to bed at a reasonable hour.
559)  Being pursued to deal with my weaknesses.
560) Those who love me making sure I am helped.

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Image of book cover: Cruciform Press

In Hard stuff , ,
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Interpreting the times

May 22, 2011

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:36-37 ESV)

It is rare nowadays to find anyone able to proclaim the correct Biblical interpretation of current events.

Peter does so magnificently in Acts 2:22-41, and given his track record I would argue that it is spending 40 days in fellowship with the risen Son of God and in prayer that gave him the background understanding to be able to do this.

It is good to know what is going on in the world but without an ongoing, deep fellowship with Jesus through the Bible and prayer it will all lead me to emptiness and despair.

(I pre-wrote this about a month ago but it now seems particularly relevant!)

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Image of newspaper: iStockphoto

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You are deceived, O wise one

April 7, 2010

Even the wisest man in the Bible (aside from Jesus) could not understand his own heart well enough to avoid it deceiving him. King Solomon had 700 wives to whom he clung in love, and in his old age they turned his heart away to other gods (1 Kings 11:1-4).

In fact, he did not even need to be wise to know the folly of clinging to those whom God had put off-limits, in Exodus 34:12-16 there is warning enough for even a simple man to understand. In his wisdom perhaps Solomon created a fine sounding argument for himself justifying why it was okay for him to sin and not heed the warning from God. He did not seem to realize that his own heart was divided, yet this is so obvious. We so easily deceive ourselves once we stop paying attention to God’s word (Jeremiah 17:9).

The final state of Solomon’s heart is a frightening reminder of the dangerous game idolatry is, and that it can start from just liking something a lot and being reluctant to let God take away our beloved toy.

In Christian thinking
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