Wednesday, June 12, 2013

June 13, 2013

“And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints.  Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.”   Proverbs 2:2b-9
 
This is the Summer of Solomon as we spend these three months studying the Proverbs. In chapter one we gained this insight into wisdom: "KNOWING GOD IS WHERE WISDOM BEGINS AND WHERE FEAR IS TURNED INTO FAITH”.
 
The second truth we will explore is this: "WISDOM IS NOT JUST ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT IS ABOUT KNOWING GOD IN A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP!"
 
Since wisdom comes from a relationship with God, the things that build relationships also work to develop wisdom. Those four factors are:
 
Listen
Look
Learn
Live
 
In the previous post I talked about the importance of learning to listen to God in order to gain wisdom. Solomon urges you to "incline your ear toward wisdom".
 
Today I want to consider the second wisdom builder - Look.
 
Look for what? "....you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God..."
 
When Betty Goldstein of Staten Island, New York, entered the hospital, her husband Ron wrapped her 3.5-carat diamond ring in a napkin for safekeeping. But in a forgetful moment, the 63-year-old Goldstein threw the napkin in the trash.

When he realized his mistake, he dashed outside, only to see the garbage truck rumbling down the street. So he called the local sanitation department and got permission to follow the truck to a transfer station. Workers began sorting through hundreds of garbage bags and recovered the ring an hour later.

The writer of Proverbs urges us to search diligently for something far more precious, wisdom. This strenuous search for wisdom is actually a search for God Himself
 
There it is!
 
Wisdom comes from your relationship with God and listening to Him and looking for Him are two key factors for gaining wisdom!
 
So, I ask you, "What are you looking for?"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

June 12, 2013

"My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you,  so that you incline your ear to wisdom,"  Vv. 1-2a

One of the main themes of the Book of Proverbs is "we are foolish by nature".

To the writer of the Proverbs foolish had more to do with the moral and spiritual nature than the IQ level. Since we are born as sinners we are born fools!
 

Nowadays we might say "we are stuck on stupid".

Solomon wrote the Proverbs to remind us that we are "stuck on stupid" and gives 31 chapters of how to get "unstuck" and acquire wisdom.

Chapter 2 is especially timely for this week leading up Father's Day because it talks about a father seeking to teach his son how to gain wisdom. He shares four important keys to gaining wisdom from a wise father:

Listen!
Look!
Learn!
Live!

Wow! Those are four hard things for men to do! Especially the listening part. Men are notoriously bad listeners!

A young man was driving up a steep, winding and narrow mountain road. Going round a tight corner, he notices a woman driver who is coming in the opposite direction begin to lean out of her window. As they pass each other she yells at him - "PIG!!!!"

The man immediately leans out of his window and screams back at her, "WITCH!!!"

Each continues on their way, and as the man rounds the next bend he crashes into a pig, right in the middle of the road!

 
If only men would listen!
 

So, if you want to "wise up". If you are tired of being stuck on stupid you need to begin listening to God and to wise godly men.

"Incline your ear to wisdom" says the Proverbs writer. Lean toward wisdom with a ready ear! Listen to what your father has to say about right and wrong and listen to what your Heavenly Father has to say through His Word.

Are you listening?