Colossians 4:5–Walk Wisely

Colossians 4:5–"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time."

This is one of those concepts that can be so difficult for the Christian to understand–it has been for me at least.  The reality is that non-Christians and those that do not know God do watch the Christian with a critical eye, searching for hypocrisy or weakness of conviction.  It is for this reason (not to mention the other more devotional reasons) that we need to live our lives wisely at all times, but especially in front of non-believers who are watching.  

To be sure, this is no easy task.  But it is a matter of faith and focus more than it is a matter of show.  We are to live wisely for those who would be watching because we desire to be obedient to Christ in every aspect of our lives.  Let us then strive to live wisely and make the best use of the time, recognizing that we are being observed for our Christianity.

Proverbs 17:28–Just Be Quiet

Proverbs 17:28–"Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent."

For someone who is prone to speaking when it would be best to remain quiet, this verse is provocatively profound.  In reality, I have confirmed this verse to be true many times.  But even with all this experience I am still prone to foolishness, opening my mouth to speak when it would be best to keep it shut tight.  Who knows, maybe I could sound wise by not making a sound at all!

Proverbs 18:2–A Fool Only Wants To Share Opinions

Proverbs 18:2–"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his own opinion."

I have been so prone to this special sort of foolishness in my life.  Perhaps there is a piece of me that is broken, a trigger that gets flipped and prohibits my ears from hearing, my brain from thinking, and starts my mouth moving without much consideration for what it's saying.  It is at these moments of intellectual incapacity where deficiencies of wisdom bring the reality of this verse to light in my life.

In truth, I have been a fool far more often than I would care to admit but I am also keenly aware that the trick to overcoming this particular form of foolishness is a matter of pleasure.  If we would become most pleased with learning and gaining insight rather than merely voicing our opinions, we will go a long way to safeguarding ourselves from being a fool of this ilk.

Proverbs 17:10–Rebuke: the Refiner of Wisdom

Proverbs 17:10–"A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool."

This is a theme of Proverbs and of wisdom in general.  How we handle rebuke and instruction speaks volumes to maturity and wisdom.  In so many ways wisdom is weighed when our foolishness is confronted and exposed.  It is in these moments, when we are rebuked and admonished, that the true depth of wisdom is challenged.  But like silver is refined in the crucible so is wisdom purified when foolishness is revealed through rebuke.  So when we are rebuked let us pay close attention to how we would react, realizing that our reaction could be the very thing that refines us to be more wise.

Proverbs 21:21–The Pursuit of Righteousness

Proverbs 21:21–"Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor."

This is an easily misunderstood proverb.  If one were not careful this verse could be interpreted out of context, thinking that the type of righteousness and kindness that is pursued is of little relevance to the discussion.  But I assure you that this is not the case.  What I mean to say is that our own righteousness is a worthless trinket compared to the surpassing awesomeness of God's righteousness, like the difference between a a grain of sand and sunshine.

Righteousness, of the kind and degree that this verse encourages, is wholly dependent upon God so that the effects–life, righteousness, and honor–would come to fruition in our lives.  Quite literally, it is as we receive the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:22) that we are able then to fulfill all of the requirements that a righteousness of this kind demands.

So in the end this verse is not about us striving to be more righteous or more kind.  This verse is, like nearly every passage of Scripture, about faith.  O that we would devote ourselves to the righteousness of God that only comes through faith!

James 1:5–Advice for Fools

James 1:5–"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him."

I have an honest confession to make: I am a fool.

More often than I'd care to share I am utterly and hopelessly foolish.  Be it that one comment I made to my wife, the way I said something that should've never been shared, taking the last bite of cheesecake (not to mention having already eaten the majority of it already), or the way I cut-off the car in the next lane because I wasn't paying attention to anything outside of my vehicle.  The verdict is in: I am a fool.

That is why this verse is so profoundly comforting to me.  If you're anything like me then I highly suggest that you take heed to what this verse is asserting, and that you, like me, would earnestly pray to be granted wisdom so as to no longer be foolish.

But praise be to God and His graciousness, that He would impart wisdom to fools so that they may no longer be fools!

Psalm 90:12–Teach Us to Number Our Days

Psalm 90:12–"So teach us to number our days that we might get a heart of wisdom."

Time flies, and as I get older time seems to speed by like a jet-propelled plane racing through the days of my life.  Realizing this can be, at the very least, a terrifying thought.  But before I fall into the deepest of despairs reckoned by the prospect of aging, I am reminded that time is valuable and I shouldn't waste it worrying about how precious it is.  Instead, I consider these verses and those like it that remind me that there is another perspective at play here, a different way to handle the swift passage of time: cherish it.

Remembering that our days are limited is the first step in treating each day as a distinct gift that should not be wasted away.  Let us commit to take this verse seriously throughout 2014 as we strive to live lives of discipline and wisdom.

Proverbs 9:10–Wisdom and Insight

Proverbs 9:10–"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight."

This is one of the recurring themes in Proverbs.  In many ways, it is the primary theme of the entire book.  I have spent a significant period of time on previous blogs dealing specifically with the concept of fear of the Lord, so for this blog I want to speak of the knowledge of the Holy One and the insight that this knowledge affords.

The insight that knowing God brings is insight of the wisest order; it is the insight to live, the ability to live wisely.  In other words, by knowing God we are blessed with something profoundly practical: the insight to live.  This is one of those sweet and beautiful components of the Christian worldview and we should never forget the joy of its reality in our lives.

Let us, then, not cease to fear the Lord and to seek to know Him more!

Proverbs 15:23–A Good Word in Season

Proverbs 15:23–"To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!"

There have been many times have I been in a conversation in which a well-chosen, timely word can come to mind that is exactly the word that the other person needs to hear.  This is often, I have learned, the presence of the Holy Spirit whispering in my mind, utilizing me as a vessel to speak to another. The point is that a good response or a kind word can be like salve to the soul of the hearer.  Wisdom is all about doing and saying the right things at the right times.

Let us then take this step towards wisdom, striving to offer an apt answer and a timely word when it's right!

James 3:13–The Wise Will Show Their Wisdom

James 3:13–"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom."

Wisdom never needs to show off.  Wisdom is content to be wise without having to tell everyone how wise she is.  It turns out that one of the true tests of wisdom is how meekly it reveals itself, how humbly it behaves in front of people.  In truth, the wisest people never have to tell anyone how wise they are: everyone will know.  Thus, perhaps the first step for becoming wise is to strive in humility to simply be wise and let our wisdom shine through the wise way that we would live.

This should be our prayer and our goal.

Let us pray for that!
Amen.

James 3:13–Showing Wisdom with Meekness

James 3:13–"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show you his works in the meekness of wisdom."

One of the true measurements of wisdom is, it turns out, a direct reflection of the wisdom the person may possess. That is, a wise person will exhibit their wisdom wisely.  In some ways this is an obvious consideration.  However, there is a natural tendency for the fool to expose his folly even in wisdom.  Think of how easy it is, for instance, to want to tell everyone how wise we may be when we know that we are being wise.  In that instance–which has happened more often than I'd care to admit–the true wealth of wisdom has remained just beyond our reach.  In truth, to be truly wise we must also exude that wisdom wisely and with meekness.  This is what James is saying to us and we would be wise to listen.

Psalm 143:10–Teach Me to Do Your Will

Psalm 143:10–"Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground."

Asking for assistance is often the first necessary step in receiving it.  If we never ask, we may never receive.  Under this principle, we should be willing and eager to ask God for help in our aim at spiritual maturation.  In other words, it is always a good practice for us to come to God requesting that He would teach us and that He would lead us.

Because of this, it would be wise of us to make a verse like this our prayer that we would receive the grace to do His will and to walk with sure steps on level ground.

Proverbs 9:13-Beware the Seduction of Folly

Proverbs 9:13: "The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing."

To say that Folly is a loud and seductive woman that ultimately knows nothing is to say that the one who brazenly gloats of his indiscretion and seduces others to follow him, in the end, is but a fool who truly knows nothing.  This may be a bitter pill to swallow if you are anything like me. That is, if you have a proclivity, a natural tendency towards folly and foolishness.

It has been remarkable, then, to see God  transform my vision in this regard, that by the power of His in dwelling Holy Spirit who applies His holy Word to my life, my attraction to the woman Folly has been replaced.  This has, I am convinced, been entirely a work of God in transforming me to have a distaste for Folly as It has been replaced by a hunger for the things of God.

Additionally, the aforementioned verse reminds me that while fools trapped in bed with Folly will speak boldly and deductively try to lead skeptical people wayward to become fools in partnership, the wise one will be able to recognize that the fool is all the more ignorant because of their love of Folly.  Therefore, the task for the godly is to be trained to spot the fool so as to guard one's heart against Folly's seductive and ignorant ways.

James 3:17–Wisdom From Above

James 3:17: "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere."

Wisdom is one of those great treasures worth sharing.  Sharing wisdom, though, is done best without telling everyone that it is wisdom that you are sharing.  For if wisdom is easily seen and never needs more of an introduction; it will stand on its own.

But doesn't worldly wisdom prefer to toot its own horn, so to speak?  True wisdom, that is, wisdom from above, is pure and peaceable, gentle.  And why would it be gentle?  Because, again, true wisdom has no need for coercion to prove its value; wisdom will always demonstrate its worth on its own.

Wisdom is impartial but it is also full of mercy.  It is a guide but sincere.  There is no doubt, then, that to search for wisdom would be the first step in wisdom.  It is, though, no mere coincidence that the search for wisdom is closely aligned to the search for God, as it is God Himself through whom all wisdom comes.  We would do well to seek after God with fervor and to become wise as a side effect.

Seeking After God and His Wisdom

The book of Proverbs is all about wisdom.  Over and over, the book can be summarized by the repeating phrase, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."  This is a challenging concept in a world that thinks of fear in a negative sense.  Luckily, Solomon gives us clear and inspired instruction about how a person may learn about what is the fear of the Lord and what it means.

For this, one need not look much further than Proverbs 2:1-5.  In this sequence of verses, Solomon, the wisest man aside from Christ Jesus to ever live, lays out the path for a person to learn about the fear of the Lord.  Proverbs 2:1-5 reads as such:

"My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandment with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise you voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

The words have been italicized to emphasize the point of this passage.  There are preconditions that need to be met in the reception of wisdom from God.  Although there are multiple facets to these preconditions, they can be summarized in a single phrase: intentional pursuit.  The prominent word in these verses is then, for it indicates that what has been called for previously must be fulfilled in order for anyone to understand the fear of the Lord and to find the knowledge of God.

If we understand this as such, then what these verses say is astounding.  Basically, God does not reveal Himself to people who do not seek Him and He does not reveal Himself to latent, static, or passive observers.  Instead, God reveals His self, bestowing His infinites wisdom and knowledge, to those who treasure His commands, who listen attentively and incline their hearts to understanding, who cry out for insight and understanding, and who seek after it as if seeking buried treasure.  These are the necessary preconditions for knowing God that must be met before God reveals Himself.  Let us then take seriously our pursuit of the Lord God Almighty!

Seeking after Wisdom

Wisdom is the ability to live life rightly.  It is both an attitude towards life as well as a rubric for making future decisions.  In this way, wisdom is as much about choices being made currently and in the past as it is about decisions that are yet to be made.  Thus, the difference between a person who is unwise and a person who is wise is determined by the rightness of their choices.  

Luckily, God has given us guidance in growing in wisdom, through the study of His Holy Word, as well as a way to receive heavenly wisdom by asking for it in faith.  The first sense, wisdom accrued from the study of His Word, means that we will read the Scriptures with a keen eye, focused on waht the Scriptures are saying about wisdom.

Additionally, there are three books of the Old Testament that are jointly focused on expressing the value and meaning of wisdom for humans: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job.  While each have different perspectives, they each are primarily dealing with wisdom's usefulness in the life of a man and are valuable resources within Scripture for wisdom.

The other sense of wisdom involves a person directly asking God to grant them wisdom.  Solomon did this (1 Kgs. 3:9), and the apostel James tells us that "If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5)."  In this way, the believer has access to all the wisdom of heaven through faith.

At the final analysis, God has given us keys to the storehouses of His wisdom.  All we have to do is ask and pursue His wisdom in faith.  A word of qualification is needed here.  While Solomon was blessed with wisdom beyond comprehension, and was deemed the wisest man to have ever lived, he will be remembered as a man who forgot that the wisdom had not come from him but had been deposited in him by the Lord Almighty, and when he neglected that fact he fell into disbelief and unfaithfulness.  Let us then seek after wisdom in our pursuit of God so that we may live a righteous life in and by Him!

Becoming Old Wise People

One of the realities of human life, that is a result of the Fall in Genesis 3, is aging.  In many ways, aging is a harsh reality because able-bodied young people decrease in physical capability just as a result of the passage of life and of time.  On the other hand, age should bring with it wisdom and dignity as well as insight into the Word of God.  The pertinent word is should, the process of aging should breed wisdom, but it is the process of such a decree that warrants further examination.

The issue at hand is the fact that wisdom is not accrued passively.  In fact, it requires our intentional and active pursuit.  More so, though, acquiring wisdom demands that God, particularly that we ask God to bless us with wisdom in faith (James 1:5-6).  Essentially, aging into an old, wise person does not simply mean growing into an old person.  Instead, it necessitates a life spent seeking God and asking Him to bless us with wisdom.

This is an all-too-often neglected reality.  We all know people who are old but are unwise.  However, they feel that their age is the only requirement of being wise.  This is just blatantly incorrect because, as aforementioned, wisdom and growing in wisdom does not happen passively but requires our active and consistent participation and pursuit.

Truly, aging in godliness requires more than merely the passage of time; rather, aging in a godly sense  demands our consistent and continued faithfulness.  Remember, wisdom at its heart is the ability to make right decisions.  And as rightness is a characteristic of God Almighty, wisdom is thus the ability to rely upon God for decision making.  Let us then pursue the wisdom of relying upon God so as to grow into the old, wise people that God intends us to be!

Gleaning Wisdom from and before Failure

By the second decade of the twentieth century, the automobile industry was taking off.  However, there was one potential hiccup and major hurdle to the industry's growth: rubber.  At that time, synthetic rubbers were still in their infancy and would not be able to fill the demands.  In reaction to the growing need, in 1928, Henry Ford went to Brazil and purchased over 6,200 square miles of Amazon river, beachfront property.  Fordlandia was formed.

Ford sent some of his top engineers and managers who had streamlined his revolutionary mass-production Ford facilities.  The men went down to Fordlandia and, having hired local farmers to live and work in the city, planted hundreds of perfectly symmetrical rows of rubber trees along the banks of Rio Tapajos.

However, the managers and engineers that Ford sent down to Brazil had little to no knowledge of tropical agriculture.  And, not knowing anything about growing rubber trees or tropical farming at all, Fordlandia was a continual and repeated failure.  In 1945, when Ford's grandson took the company over, Fordlandia had incurred a slew of violent local uprisings, had been unsuccessfully relocated further down the Amazon, and was finally sold for a $20 million loss.

The point is that, while Henry Ford saw a need and formed a solution to solve it, because he lacked the information and expertise to accomplish his goals it was an utter failure.  Despite the fact that Ford dumped valuable resources of money and manpower, it was all for naught.  The project failed definitively for a whole litany of reasons, but the chief among them was Ford's own pride.  Henry believed that the skills and tactics that had made him an automobile baron would be equally useful in farming rubber trees.  He was wrong.

Often times we, like Henry Ford, will be faced with issues that we, like Ford, will choose to take on by our own wit or grit.  As Solomon writes, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Pro. 16:18)."  We need to always remember that while we may have our own plans and our own ways to deal with the scenarios that we are faced with, it is in the Lord that we are established (Pro. 16:9).

Consider the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21), who because the harvest had been so fruitfully plentiful, he tore down his barn to big a larger one to store all of his surplus. Yet before he can lay the first brick, the Lord calls him out, demanding his life that very night.  The primary point of the parable is that the man who stores up riches for himself has no riches in heaven.  However, a secondary and equally important point is that we cannot know when or what God has for us if we are continually making plans apart from His guidance and separated from His presence.

James, in his epistle, picks up on this theme when he says that we do not know what tomorrow may bring for we are but mists that are here today but vanish tomorrow.  Therefore, we should say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that (James 4:13-15)."  This hits a nerve at the heart of our culture that so heralds individualism, self-expression, and personal power.  But apart from the Lord blessing are very step and sustaining us from breath to breath, there is not a single thing that we are capable of doing.  

Therefore, we should seek His will not only to bless our plans, but also to help us determine them as well, remembering that God desires to guide our steps in order that we would walk in accordance with His will (Psa. 37:23-24; Pro. 20:24; Jer. 10:23).  So that we would not walk in the footsteps of Fordlandia, we should always strive to come to God in humility so that He would guide and equip us for every work that He has already prepared for us to do.  Praise be to God who directs and blesses!

Ecclesiastes and Vanity

The book of Ecclesiastes begins with these sobering words of Solomon: "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."  Solomon then goes into a severe indictment over the uselessness of every form of life, from wisdom to folly, from pleasure to prudence, Solomon ends this small book of wisdom before the epilogue in the same way that the book begins, "Vanity of vanities...All is vanity!"

Think of the profundity of Solomon's assertion.  The wisest man to ever live (apart from Christ Jesus) has seen everything under the sun, all of man's toil and strife as well as all of man's joys and pleasures, and Solomon's final analysis is that "All is vanity." To be sure, Solomon's verdict is more than somber, it is downright depressing but under more analysis, Solomon is painting a picture of life and wisdom.

A bit of introductory information is in order.  Ecclesiastes is one of the Old Testament Writings, the third part of the Old Testament that is more like a miscellaneous bin of various writings, like Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Esther, that do not fit with the rest of the Old Testament.  In fact, this book completes the trifecta of wisdom books, the other two being Job and Proverbs, that offer differing views on the value of wisdom.  Because of this, Ecclesiastes should be considered in relation to the other wisdom books.  That being said, Ecclesiastes does have some good and useful things to say about wisdom and life.

Although Solomon's tone is less-than encouraging in regards to the uselessness of life, he does indicate that there is value to be had in enjoying one's work (2:24), value in timing and enjoying life (3:1-113),  value in enjoying work and simple pleasures (5:18), value in mourning (6:2-4), value of enjoying work and life (9:7-9), value of wisdom (10:10), and the value of praising the Lord in the days of youth (12:1).  Sense a theme?

Solomon, though thoroughly negative in his understanding of the vanity of life, is clear that man should work hard and toil with joy while rejoicing in the simple pleasures without over indulging.  The point is that wisdom is better than folly and taking joy in simple pleasures is a good gift from the Lord that adds enjoyment to man's toil-laden life.

Although this particular discussion was information-heavy, it should still compel us to take time to day to praise God for the gift of a good cup of coffee, the joy of a nice breeze, or the kiss of a child.  God has blessed us with little gifts and we should praise Him for them!

Plea for the Young

Because the word for overseer, "elder," serves as a term for the aged in our society, there is a natural compulsion to feel that those who are older are to be the examples worth following.  Although this may be true, being of youth or youthful is no excuse for not pursuing righteousness and living as salt and light in the world.  Simply put, this means that those who are young need to live as examples with just as much fervor and intent as those who are older.

Strangely enough, Scripture offers multiple examples pointing to young people being used for great things.  The first example is David, a teenage shepherd boy who was used by God to defeat the mightiest Philistine champion to the envy of Saul, the king who should have done the job.  Merely a young boy, David, was chosen by God to be the greatest king in Israel's history.

Or consider Jeremiah, a young boy when he was called to by the Lord to prophecy judgement over Jerusalem and all of Israel.  Although he was but a boy, he was called to be the voice of God for all of Israel, one of the greatest prophets in Israelite history.  Clearly, youth is not a hindrance to doing the will of God.

Or consider Timothy, Paul's son in Christ (1 Tim. 1:2).  Although Scripture does not clearly specify the age of Timothy but it is certain that he is Paul's junior and that Timothy was considered a youth at whatever ministry setting he was in.  However, Paul was clear that Timothy should not be hindered by his youth but should strive to be an example for the older generation, devoting himself to public reading of Scripture, and to teaching (1 Tim. 4:12-14).

The point is that youth, though often neglected by the older folk, is not any reason to not live the life God requires of us.  The truth is, although youth and youthfulness can be an excuse to delay growing in devotion, we should not let ourselves off the hook so easily.  Instead, we should be just as fervent in our pursuit of growth as older people.

In truth, if we who are younger desire to become leaders who are wise and faithful, we should take the quest after Christ seriously throughout our youth as to grow like plants into flowering fruition in His due time, not hindered by our own flesh-seeking procrastination.  Let us then press into Him as to be the people, young and old, that God wants us to be!