WISDOM FOR YOUR TOMORROWS OF LIFE
The technician who upgraded our Internet and TV service declared the new control mechanism with which he replaced our old one the greatest ever. “That little device,” he said, “is so intelligent that no human being will ever be able to think what it thinks - as perfect as perfect can be” to which I responded, “Well, then, I’ll nickname it ‘God’!”
He then suggested that making the most of what “God” can do depends on us effectively utilizing Apps (application possibilities) stored on our computer. So, as is the case in all other areas of life, responsibility for searching for knowledge, and successfully applying it, lies with the seekers and finders! In terms of the things of God, Jesus’ advice was, “Seek, and ye shall find.” Seek and find wisdom!
Now hear this: “Effectively applying knowledge for the common good” is a widely accepted definition of wisdom; those who consistently seek, find and apply are said to be wise; now - as I look at this group - I see wisdom personified! So, I would like to pose several questions to all of you “Wise Old Owls":
Who was (is) the wisest person you’ve ever known, and why?
What was the wisest choice you ever made?
What was the wisest advice you ever received?
What was the wisest advice you ever gave? Now, for the biggie:
Do you feel that you have outlived a need for wisdom?
It might surprise you to know that Solomon left us a wise saying for such a stage of life as ours: “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.” (Eccl. 7:8)
The home stretch of life brings us to terms with reality – full disclosure. Idealistic “day dreams” are no more. The whole truth stares us in the face. There are no more unrealistic goals to strive for. There is no lack of awareness of how things really are. Delusions are a thing of the past. Expectations are not as high as they once were. A complete picture has developed, so that we no longer “see through a glass darkly” but anticipate seeing our Lord face to face. Folks,
We have arrived at that point in our allotted years when spiritual maturity enables true wisdom: “the God-given ability to see life with objectivity and to handle life with stability.” A rarity reserved for old age!
The search for true wisdom was described at a ripe old age by Solomon – the king whose request for wisdom had been granted: Proverbs 2:1-6 and 3:5-7 . . .
In our search for, and discovery of, true wisdom, we have learned that the only reliable source of the wisdom we need is Father God. Father God knows best!
One of society’s biggest problems is that we look for wisdom in the wrong places – horoscopes, gossip columns, fortune cookies, and various “isms” whose proud practitioners present themselves as humble persons, thus are admired and followed by seekers of a way other than “the” way, - when there is no wiser way than God’s Way! Using our A-B-C-D-E Formula, let’s summarize what it takes to make us wise, or wiser:
Acknowledge who the source of wisdom is not and is! Based on revelations of truth - received through God’s Word, observed in the lives of Bible characters, experienced personally – we have learned: God is infinitely all-knowing plus all-wise.
His ways are always best and He never makes mistakes. We the created make mistakes, not God the Creator. We humans sin, but not God our Maker. Yet, God’s Grace is sufficient for guiding us through the valleys . . . the shadows dim . . . the dark nights of the soul - because, as John says, “God is Light”!
Believe wholeheartedly in the availability and validity of God’s wisdom! Start each day with this thought: Tons of knowledge are available to me (more information out there to be had in one year than the previous five thousand years combined), yet, even with all that readily available knowledge, I need God’s wise counsel. So, I ask Thee, O Lord:
Be Thou my guardian, and show me the way - one day at a time. Ease the tension that exists within me between ‘trusting my waning competence’ and ‘trusting your sustaining wisdom’.”
Conform to God’s “conditions” for receiving godly wisdom! Solomon identified six “conditions” which we can summarize thusly: Listen attentively to the Master Teacher - accept His teachings as valid, commit them to memory, and focus on them constantly.
Cultivate a yearning in your heart for true wisdom in much the same way we would plead to God for deliverance from trouble. Seek it as one seeks for lost money or hidden treasure (Luke 15:8-10).
Remember the advice Jesus gave? “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.” Folks: We need to put on our yoke of humility for receiving a word from the Lord each and every day just as surely as my sister was ordered this past week by a doctor to wear her support hose every day, not just when she takes a notion! Intensively seek and follow the Great Physician’s wise guidance!
Distance yourself from persons and philosophies that reject God’s wisdom. Deliberately pursue that which you deem to be right in God’s sight and, in so doing, the contrasts as well as the consequences will become evident.
One of the most common contrasts in Scripture is between the wise and the foolish. “The fool says in his heart, ‘God does not exist’” (Ps. 14:1). But the wise person not only knows that God exists, but fears Him - reverencing Him, yes, but also coming to terms with the reality of dire consequences associated with disobedience to God’s commands. (Illustration of foolish thinking and acting)
Take seriously the lesson Solomon learned in “the school of hard knocks”: “Turn away from”! Go in a new direction!” Turn away from foolish thinking and acting, as is the manner of some who, as they grow older, become sympathetic with, and even turn to, prevailing fallacies of “the times” in which they live.
Why get caught up in the misguided pursuit of establishing a “moral order” that would be more to the liking of sectarian ideologists - who think of it as an updated version of “right versus wrong” . . . their selfish endeavors to “install it” in the minds and hearts of those who are easily mesmerized into believing that political “gods” not the God of our Fathers know best . . . malicious attempts to undermine Christianity by recreating basic biblical theology, thereby redefining terminology, to “make it fit” worldly desires? For a Disciple of Jesus Christ, there is no good reason to get caught up in all that malarkey! Wise up!
Expect to become wise in God’s sight not that of the narcissists who would delude us into thinking that God’s ways are unattainable so we might as well give in to their foolish ways not God’s ways. On our own, in our own time, we say, keep on striving toward God’s goal! With God’s help, in His time, His way will be the order of the day! A word to the wise should be sufficient! So, mode it be! We be on the Lord’s side!
Solomon obviously was thinking of heading down the home stretch of life when it occurred to him that “wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun . . . the light . . . get it right!
Most of us are old enough to remember Henry Ford the automaker. It is said that Mr. Ford engaged the services of electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn’t find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life – but Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the tightfisted Ford inquired why the bill was so high. Steinmetz’s reply was: For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Ford paid the bill.
Nothing benefits God’s people more than knowing where, and where not, to tinker! A word to us “wise old owls” ought to be sufficient in view of our obvious aging situation - a reality I was reminded of by those never-to-be-forgotten lines in the Broadway Musical “Fiddler on the Roof”: “Sunrise, sunset . . . Sunrise, sunset . . . Swiftly fly the years . . .”
In these sunset years of our lives, you and I thankfully look back upon that wise decision we made when we realized that Jesus “paid the bill” for our tinkering with sin so abhorrent to God that it cost Him the supreme sacrifice of sending His Son to die on the Cross – a realization that prompted us to repent of our sin, receive Christ into our hearts as Savior, and crown Him Lord of our lives!
Our Lord has promised to be with us all the way Home. We will not face the future alone. We wisely give our future to God. And until the time for our departure, “we trust in the Lord with all our hearts, we do not rely on our own understanding. In all our ways, we think about Him, and HE will guide us on the right paths” . . . then HE will send His angels to escort us Home! Amen.
A FINAL POINT OF WISDOM TO PONDER:
The captain of a ship considered the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he sent this urgent message: “Alter you course 10 degrees south.” Promptly came a reply: “Alter your course 10 degrees north.”
Angered, the captain sent a second message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south! I am a captain!”
Promptly came a second reply: “Alter your course 10 degrees north! I am a seaman third class!”
Angrily the captain sent a message that was sure to evoke fear: “Alter your course 10 degrees south! I am a battleship!”
Whereupon a sobering third reply was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north! I am a Lighthouse!”
During the dark times in which we live, divergent voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do and what not to do.
Then, out of the darkness comes a Voice unlike any other, “I am the Lord Thy God!” That voice beckons us to trust Him who is the Light of the world!
We ignore God’s Light at our own peril!
AMEN!
