Today’s passage is Proverbs 8:22-36. Wisdom says God made her before he created the world. Those who find wisdom find life and are blessed while those who don’t find wisdom hurt themselves and love death.
Do you seek wisdom before you create your plans and schedules?
Is wisdom your daily companion in the Word? How have you harmed yourself and others by ignoring wisdom?
As a teenager, I wanted to be wise.
When I read stories it was always the wise man that I wanted to be.
When I read “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”, I wanted to be Gandalf.
When I read about King Arthur, I wanted to be Merlin.
When I read Narnia, I wanted to be Coriakin.
When I read Harry Potter, I wanted to be Dumbledore.
When I watched Star Wars, I wanted to be Obi Wan.
In the gospels, I wanted to be one of the wise men.
If I had followed what God planted in me--to be wise--and followed my literary heroes, I just might have met the Lord a lot earlier than I did.
But all of the wise men in literature and the three in the gospels shared in common was their age. There never seem to be young wise men.
Wisdom takes training.
It means diligent study for understanding and discernment.
It means experience of life.
It takes time. I think that’s why wise men are old.
I’m finally old and I’ve suffered because of my sins and folly, but I’m not sure how much wisdom I’ve gained.
All of the wise old men in the literature I’ve read become Christ-like by making a sacrifice of themselves for the lives of others.
Jesus is the ultimate wise man.
Even though he is young in his human incarnation, he is God and therefore older than time itself.
The wise men who traveled far to worship him and left rejoicing show the greatest wisdom by diligent study and hard travel to seek God.
When they find him, they glorify him and avoid the evil of Herod.
I am only beginning my path of wisdom late in life by seeking wisdom in the daily Word through QT.
I am learning wisdom by seeking to see my sins and repenting.
I am learning wisdom by listening more carefully to others.
I am beginning to live wisdom by forgiving others and asking for forgiveness.
Yesterday I explained to my daughter Erika that the change in my relationship with my mother only came when I confessed my selfish wickedness as her son and asked her forgiveness.
It took me years after that to forgive her behavior towards me, others and life in general.
In conversation with her in the last week I have learned much about her homelife which colored the way she raised me.
Forgiveness is love. I asked my daughter’s forgiveness for my behavior towards her.
Forgiveness is wisdom.
Application: to ask forgiveness of my step-daughter Susan.
Lord, let me not be an old fool but a forgiving sinner who constantly needs your Word to guide me and your Spirit for the courage to walk the only true path to you.
