Operating Instructions…for LIFE!!

Buy a new piece of equipment, and what comes with it? The operating instuctions!!

And what are we to do with them? Right, READ THEM!!!

Why? Yeah, so we can get the most out of our new toy, right?

For instance, I opened up the instruction booklet for my digital camera, and it says things like:

WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire ot shock hazard and annoying interference, use only recommended accessories….

CAUTION: Danger of explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced….

Care of the camera:

• Do not strongly shake or bump the camera…
• Retract the lens before carrying the camera.
• Retract the lens before playing back pictures.
• Sand or dust may cause the camera to malfunction…
• Make sure that water does not get into the camera…

And of course, the list goes on and on. But do we always read them? Most likely NO!! And when something goes wrong, it’s often because we didn’t read those instructions properly. The result is the reduced life of our “toy”. And possibly the warranty will be void, because we haven’t followed the instructions, right? I’m sure most of us have learned that.

But what happens when the “piece of equipment” is OUR LIFE? Well it works the same way! Don’t follow instructions and you end up in a mess. However, if we do, it will add years of happiness and peace to our life. And that’s what this dad in Proverbs told his son:

My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. (3:1-2, NLT)

As with our “toy”, sometimes in the excitement of life and eagerness of trying something new, we can neglect those important instructions. And then something goes wrong, because we’d been oblivious to what we were supposed to do.

So hey, let’s HEED those things we are taught in God’s Word… those words of LIFE!!!

An Awesome Trio! (Part 2)

I’ve still been looking at these three.  And I notice an interesting pattern in two of the passages.  One talks about how God used wisdom on the creation process.  The other talks how we, being made in His image, can do the same thing.  See how the three are used in the same way:

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.  (3:19-20)

Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
By knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches. (24:3-4)

So here’s a thought…

Just maybe Solomon was thinking about the building of the temple when he wrote that.  So I went and read about how he built the temple for God, and I found these three things in the story.

He built it - 1 Kings 5:1- 6:14.
He established it - 1 Kings 6:15-38
He furnished it - 1 Kings 7:13-8:13

And then…

He glorified the Lord - 1 Kings 8:14-21
He blessed the Lord - 1 Kings 8:22-61
He dedicated it to the Lord - 1 Kings 8:62-66

And man, that sure was one magnificent piece of architecture.  Rather hard to get the mind around.  But I’ll read it again later.

But I got thinking some more and thought about the building of the tabernacle…. and I found this..

… the awesome trio again…

… in Exodus 31….

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:  “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.  And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,  in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.
“And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you…..”  (v.1-6)

How neat is that?  It was the artists that God gave the wisdom, understanding and knowledge.

I thought that was pretty COOL!!

An Awesome Trio! (Part 1)

Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding….

As I’ve been reading through Proverbs, and I noticed that these three seem to hang out together, as in these examples:

For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. (2:6)

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew. (3:19-20, NKJ)

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
Lend your ear to my understanding,
That you may preserve discretion,
And your lips may keep knowledge. (5:1-2)

He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. (17:27-2

Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. (24:3-4, NKJ)

So I’ve been checking up on some words.

Firstly, as I said the other day, Wisdom is the knowledge and ability to make the right choices at the right time.

Well, I found a neat definition of Knowledge, which is about knowing by observing and reflecting, and knowing by experiencing.

And Understanding? It’s about knowing HOW all the bits of information fit together so we can choose wisely.

So how neat is that? See how Knowledge and Understanding fit into that definition of Wisdom.

With Knowledge we know WHAT are the right choices at that moment, and with Understanding we have the ability, the KNOW-HOW, to make those choices.

However, we can still know and understand, yet make wrong choices. So isn’t that foolishness? That is all part of the free will that God has given us. So we can either choose to wisdom or foolishness.

But, on the other hand, if we don’t have knowledge and understanding, we are not able to make an informed choice. So, we do not have wisdom, and we act foolishly out of ignorance. We will tend to choose by how we feel. And we all know how fickle our feelings can be! They will cause us to be as unstable as the waves of the sea, doubting instead of believing and ending up a total wreck! (James 1:2-8)

So, to be wise, we need ALL three. This awesome trio is inseparable. We can’t have one without the others. And where do we start? Simple….

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (9:10)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. (1:7)

She is Quite Some Lady!!

Wisdom, that is!!

Here are her credentials:

• Her companion is Understanding, and they both call out to the simple and the foolish ones.
• What she says is excellent, right, true and just, and to those who understand it is VERY plain, and to those who find knowledge it is right.
• You may have the choicest of gold and silver and the rarest of rubies, but she is far more precious.
• She dwells with another lady named Prudence, a very discrete lady.
• Things she can’t stand are: wickedness and evil, pride and arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
• Her special possessions are: counsel, common sense, understanding and strength.
• With her help kings can reign and rulers decree justice.
• She loves those who love her.
• She can be found by those who diligently seek after her.
• And as a bonus, she has riches and honour, enduring wealth and righteousness.
• She was there with God at the very beginning of creation, and she was involved in the creating process.

That’s all in Proverbs 8:1-31. Read it and see how the Bible puts it.

And she was not just for back then, but she also speaks to us today. In the rest of the chapter, she instructs us to…

• Listen - blessed are those who keep her ways;
• Hear instruction and be wise;
• And DO NOT refuse or neglect her instructions.

The benefits are awesome. It means LIFE and favour from the Lord. But if we neglect her, we can only expect trouble to our own souls, and those who hate wisdom and her advice just simply love DEATH!!

So again, we have the choices… Life or Death… the are only TWO ways to go, and only ONE WAY to life and peace!!!

WISDOM is all about CHOICES!!

Wisdom is the knowledge and ability to make the RIGHT choices at the RIGHT time.

That’s what I read in my Vines Bible Dictionary.  (Not exactly in those words, but those were the thoughts.)

And as I see it, the whole book of Proverbs IS a description of what wisdom is. It shows us how to make those right choices. It’s about how to direct this free will that God has given us. If we didn’t have a free will, we wouldn’t need wisdom, because God, being sovereign, would direct everything we do, and we wouldn’t need to think about it.

Wouldn’t life be easy if that happened. No staying awake at night wondering what we should do! We’d just sit back and cruise. And that’s how some people live… very passive, what ever will be will be.

But Romans 12:2 says to be transformed by the RENEWAL of our mind, not the REMOVAL of it.

How interesting is it, that our sovereign God has chosen to give us a free will, and we have to make choices. If we choose the RIGHT way, that is Wisdom, but if we choose WRONG, that is foolishness.

I’d say, every area of our lives involves choices. Some choices are not really life changing ones.

Like you go to Subway or Quiznos or McDonalds and you have CHOICES!! You spot something on the board that sounds pretty good, but when you get it, it’s really doesn’t taste as nice as you thought. One “foolish” choice… but, next time you’ll be wiser … you’d be pretty dumb to order that same thing again. But those sort of choices are non-consequential. The only things that probably suffer from that sort of wrong choice are your taste buds and your gut. (…Except of course, if you suffered food poisoning, or you had a severe allergy to some ingredient.)

But BIG choices are really not much different. It’s just that the wrong choice will mean worse, or even fatal consequences. That reminds me of the no-brainer in Deuteronomy…

“I have set before you LIFE and DEATH, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (30:19)

And Wisdom says:

“For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.
But those who miss me injure themselves. All who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:35-36, NLT)

So it’s really not that hard. All it needs is a decision from us. The choice is LIFE or DEATH. But yet we humans seem to find it difficult, and that’s because we don’t have the “want to”.

However, when we do make that RIGHT choice, we are walking in wisdom. We can know spiritual things, because wisdom is really God’s mind and thoughts. Just as I Corinthians 2 says, we have the mind of Christ if we have spiritual wisdom. And this is far beyond what the natural mind can comprehend, because it is only spiritually discerned. Only those who choose the way of life can have it.

But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?”
But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16, NLT)

Those in the world might think they have wisdom without God, but how can that really be wisdom?

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18, NKJ)

Let’s dare to make the RIGHT CHOICE!!!….

… and LIVE!!!

So, What is Wisdom?

Wisdom!!  That’s what Proverbs is on about. And if you want to be wise, just read it and do what it says… sounds simple!

And King Solomon, who wrote most of the Proverbs, was so renowned for his amazing wisdom that people would travel hundreds and thousands of miles to hear him.

So really, what IS Wisdom? And what did Solomon have that others didn’t?

Well, that’s what I wanted to know, so I did a bit of study.

In my Vines dictionary, I learned that wisdom is the knowledge and ability to make the RIGHT choices at the RIGHT time.

As I write, this story about Solomon comes to my mind:

Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled. “Please, my lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. Three days later this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house.
“But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.”

Then the other woman interrupted, “It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine.”
“No,” the first woman said, “the living child is mine, and the dead one is yours.” And so they argued back and forth before the king.

Then the king said, “Let’s get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours, and each says that the dead one belongs to the other. All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king.
Then he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!”
Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, my lord! Give her the child — please do not kill him!”
But the other woman said, “All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!”
Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”

When all Israel heard the king’s decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice. (1 Kings 3:16-28, NLT)

What an incredible story! Who of us wouldn’t have been in awe of wisdom like that? Which brings me to another question….

HOW did Solomon get such wisdom?

Well, it’s SIMPLE!!

He ASKED for it!!! Just read this:

Solomon replied to God, “You showed faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?”

God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people — I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!” (2 Chronicles 1:8-12, NLT)

And if WE want wisdom, guess what? All we have to do is ASK too!!!

If you need wisdom, ASK our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. (James 1:5-8, NLT)

So we don’t have ANY excuse. The difference between wisdom and foolishness is good and bad choices. And how do we get the wisdom to make the right choices? SIMPLE!! JUST ASK!!!

Where does Wisdom come from?

I am always amazed how God has a habit of tying things together… just out of the blue. It is true evidence that His Spirit moves in and through people.

Well it happen on Sunday morning. I was reading the next part of my Proverbs reading in chapter 2 before church. Here it is from the New Living Translation:

For the Lord grants wisdom! From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. (v.6-9)

Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe. Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted… (v.10-12)

Follow the steps of good men instead, and stay on the paths of the righteous. For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it. But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted. (v.20-22)

And then I get into church, and here was the reading that the preacher used, from Colossians:

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, NLT)

WOW!! How apt, and how well those passages fit together! I haven’t written anything for a couple of days, because I am still absorbing it all. I’d encourage you to read it too. But not just READ it…. but read it …. and read it … and read it. Then later on, read it again!!!

I do pray the Lord will speak to your heart through those Scriptures and bless you.

The Bit in the Middle!!

Creamed biscuit, pearl oyster, walnut, wheat kernel, tarnished silver, full memory stick, birthday present…

… they all have something in common!!

They all have something special that has to be uncovered… something that’s hidden. A treasure!!! The best part of them is on the inside or underneath, which all reminds me of what Solomon said about wisdom.

“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures….” (Proverbs 2:1-4, ESV)

Notice how it says to receive and treasure wisdom, and a bit later it says to seek and search for it like hidden treasure.

And as I was thinking about it, I thought that’s like what we photo nuts do often when we take photographs. Like, a friend of mine will crawl around on the damp ground in the spring time, getting his jeans all muddy, just to search for tiny wildflowers, that everyone else would tread on. And me? I recently had a ball down at the beach in the middle of winter, scampering among the rock pools looking for the seaside treasures.

In all that, one thing has struck me… treasures are not always obvious. Hidden treasures are always inside or under something. We can even have the treasure in our hand and not even know it. To appreciate a treasure, we have to know what we’re looking for and then look inside.

So, going back to the passage in Proverbs, notice how it starts with receiving and valuing wisdom, and finishes with seek and searching. But yet there’s a lot of stuff in the middle, which basically says to…

… LISTEN UP!! Prick up your ears. Then apply what you’ve heard to your heart. And when you don’t know, cry out for discernment and understanding.

Hey, isn’t that really wisdom in a nutshell? Isn’t that the centre of the treasure…. the cream in the middle… and the pearl in the oyster … the diamond in the rock? That is the precious and sweet bit.
And the result is….

“….then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:5, ESV)

… which takes me back to what I started with about a month ago, and that is… “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7)

Okay, Why is Wisdom a “She”?

I just said in the previous post about Jesus being our Wisdom, and that in Proverbs you could replace the word “wisdom” with “Jesus”. But there is a problem! Proverbs calls Wisdom a “she”. So how do we figure that one out?

Well, I’ll tell you how I see it, and then I’ll tell you what I read in my lexicon.

Solomon wanted to get his point across to his son. And being a hot-blooded male like his dad, one thing the son would relate to was women. In fact, I reckon that his dad was the KING of hot-blooded males. Who else do you know in history with 700 wives and 300 concubines? In fact, sadly, women were his downfall. (See 1 Kings 11:1-13.) Nevertheless, Solomon did know women, and he liked them, and so would his boy.

So in Proverbs, to make his point, Solomon contrasts two main female characters, Wisdom and the immoral woman. He does so with so much wisdom in a way that I’m sure the lad would have understood. (What a shame Solomon didn’t heed his own advice.)

Now, here’s something a bit more theological. This is what I read:

“(Wisdom) is personified only to a point - it does not have a separate existence (Proverbs 1:20; 8:1-31; 9:1-2). The figure of wisdom was never regarded as independent of God. It is only one of His attributes. The noun is not a woman, only feminine in gender. True wisdom leads to reverence for the Lord (Job 28:28; Proverbs 2:2). Therefore skeptics will never find this kind of wisdom (see James 3:13-18), and they will never know the true meaning of life (Proverbs 14:6-7).” (from the Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible by Spiros Zodhiates)

Would you believe that we studied that James passage last night in our Bible study? It amazes me how God dove-tails things together like that.

We read that the world has its type of wisdom…

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.” (James 3:13-16, NLT)

My question is, can you really call THAT wisdom? It sounds more like foolishness to me. But TRUE WISDOM is from GOD!! …

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3:17-18, NLT)

Hey, and isn’t that a description of Jesus? If we have Christ in us, we will have that heavenly wisdom too. And the more we take heed to Him, the more of HIS wisdom we will have. And this is the same Wisdom that is in Proverbs.

And hey, if we LISTEN UP, we will WISE UP!!