Wisdom Matters

The Christian faith began in the small country of Israel, a land God had promised to bless. The land had been favored for hundreds of years by the time Jesus stepped out of heaven and into an earthly life. Our faith today can be traced back to the Holy Land and the promises God made to Abraham about him being the father of countless generations.

There has always been one God, one Creator of all there is. There has always been more than one religion because original sin impacted everyone. People will always “want to be like God,” which is considered to be the root of every sin.

Paul’s letter to the Roman church is considered the most important letter of theology in our New Testament. He told them, and all Christians, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

Again, the verbs in Scripture are often crucial to understanding the words. The phrase calls on inspires a picture of a man sinking in quicksand or drowning on a rough sea. The man “calls out” to a nearby person or boat knowing that without their help he will surely perish. Again, Paul said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The universal truth of Christian evangelism is seen in God’s promise through Paul. Everyone is drowning in more sin than we can measure. Everyone will perish unless they call out to the One who is ready and able to save them. It is a simple truth unless we complicate it with the world’s suggestions.

Our words and our witness can bring another person to that moment when they understand they are lost without Jesus. We can teach them to call on the name of Jesus, the only name by which anyone can be saved.

Our message is narrow because truth only needs one lane. It is the universal truth of our one God. It is the same lane of truth Abraham and Moses walked. It is the lane of truth that God made clear in the new covenant through Christ. 

As Jesus said, “The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:14). Who helped you find the narrow lane of truth? Who would list your name if asked that question? Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. Will you joyfully share the name of Jesus and God’s plan of salvation with someone today?

Evangelism takes many forms, but “lifestyle evangelism” is an effective way of allowing our daily lives to share the reality of God and our salvation. Think back to those things that caused you to want to choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior. 

You were likely impressed by some of the Christians you knew. You probably heard a sermon or a lesson or read something that caused you to understand that you needed to receive the gift of salvation through believing in Christ. Someone probably helped you make that choice by praying with you. Your baptism was that moment you made your faith in Christ your public testimony by saying, “Jesus is my Lord.” 

We are baptized “in the name of,” meaning in the character and person of the triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But, a person becomes a disciple when they learn to observe and obey all that God has commanded for our lives as his children. When we were saved, we received the character, the Name, of the Holy Trinity. We are adopted into the family of God.

Jesus also told his disciples why we would be able to live with his character and share the gospel with his power. Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Underestimating our ability to share our faith is easy if we don’t understand the source of our ability.

Jesus is with us. The Holy Spirit is the power of Christ, indwelling God’s children. You have been chosen, gifted, and called to live in such a way that others see the truth of the gospel in your choices and hear the message of the gospel in your words.

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples and promised he would be with us when we step out in obedience to his command. But there is an honest and valid question that every one of God’s children must ask. 

Who is going to heaven today because of your obedience to the work of Christ in you? 

Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. We will never know everyone we have influenced, but we will know the names of many of them. Are you content with the knowledge that you are living as an evangelist to our culture today?

Some people help us to be more obedient, more loving children of God.

If you are like me, you have already begun to see their faces in your mind’s eye. You probably know their names, and you likely wish they were with you right now so you could thank them for the influence they have had in your life.

This psalm teaches us that we are blessed when we don't surround ourselves to be influenced by the wicked, the scoffers, and the sinners. What is interesting about that particular verse is that it is the first verse of the first psalm.

The psalms were prayers and songs of wisdom and praise. The people of that day didn’t own Bibles to read; they sang and prayed the wisdom and words of God. The psalms were originally part of God’s word to his chosen people of Israel. They remain truth for his chosen people, his children, today.

Psalm 1:1 reminds us that, as God’s children, we can’t choose his influence when we are influenced by the ungodly too. Some people help us to live a godly life while others cause us to be less than God wants us to be. All of us influence others as well, some one way and some the other.

Remember the list of people who came to your mind when we began, the list of people whose influence has helped us to love well and live obediently to God’s word. Consider now who would add your name to their list—and who might not.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. The first verse of the first psalm teaches us to choose wise, godly people to influence our lives and not “sit” under the council of the ungodly. Whose influence has blessed your life? Whose life will your influence bless tomorrow and in the days to come?

I was a young woman when I discovered the incredible value of learning to study the word of God. I had been in church and gone to Sunday School but still lacked the ability to read God’s word with theological perspective and understanding.

When I read Proverbs 16:20, I want to say, “Amen and amen.” 

When I speak to groups of young moms, I tell them that the best parenting advice I can give them is to study and know the wisdom of God’s word. Every parent will face many moments when the only thing we know is that we do not know. Thankfully, we have a God who is a perfect parent, and he does know and wants to provide the perfect answer.

There is abundant wisdom, abundant good, in knowing what God’s word says about any given subject. The internet has made finding God’s word on any subject so easy. But we must submit every thought to his supreme understanding. His answers are perfect but often require more study than just a Google search.

Living a blessed life apart from the knowledge of God’s word is impossible. He has provided wisdom for our lives that has been truth for every generation. This proverb teaches us that when we study Scripture we will discover good and when we trust God and his word we will be blessed.

Today, our world tends to listen to excerpts of God’s word rather than taking the time to study God’s word in its context, with proven theology. I’ve often quoted God’s words to Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). That truth has applied to every generation of God’s children. If we don’t know God’s word, we can’t fully know God.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. We have God’s wisdom available to us at any given moment. He has shown us the path of blessing and has taught us how to remain there. His word is truth, and his word should be studied, not just “read.” My prayer is that a word from Wisdom Matters will send you to study your Bible, where every word matters.

I’ve often wondered how many of my difficult moments might have been avoided if I had only sought God’s leadership sooner. Some of our trials exist simply because we are not yet safely home in heaven. Life on this side of salvation will always contain consequences we wish we didn’t need to endure.

Thankfully, most of our trials lead us to a greater dependency on, and knowledge of, our great and powerful God. We are promised trials in this life, but God’s word also assures us of God’s help for those trials. 

The book of Revelation is fascinating and the only book of the Bible that promises to bless the one who reads it (Revelation 1:3). John wrote the book to Christians who were experiencing great adversity from the Roman government and culture. Many, like Paul, would be executed for their faith.

Jesus met John on the Island of Patmos and told him to “write down” what he heard. John’s words in Revelation were the words of Christ to God’s people of every generation. 

John wrote, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested. Be faithful unto death.” How could the reader be “blessed” by those words?

The answer is in the rest of the verse when Jesus promised, “I will give you the crown of life.” God’s blessings accompany trials because our steadfast faith in those trials will open the floodgates of blessing and reward to our lives. When we arrive in heaven, many of our greatest rewards will come from our most difficult times on earth.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. Wisdom is living with a consistent heavenly perspective. This life is just the journey, not the destination. Living with wisdom is living with the knowledge that while the path to God’s blessings will have trials, our journey has a final destination. We who are saved are guaranteed a journey that will be difficult at times, but our destination promises a face-to-face meeting with Jesus and the unimaginable rewards of heaven, beginning with our crown of life.

I learned this wisdom from God the hard way. Those of us in ministry feel like we spend most of our time working for the Lord. Our work is service, or so we think. The words of this proverb speak sobering truth when we read carefully.

God doesn’t bless our work because it is about God. God blesses our work when it is of God and done in submission to him as our King. If you are like me, the subject of slavery is uncomfortable to think about. We like to serve God like we serve our jobs. We go to work expecting payment in return. 

Christianity isn’t about the democratic rule of God in our lives. We don’t have a vote, only a choice. We serve God as King, or we aren’t really serving him correctly. In ancient days, a king owned the land and issued commands, not suggestions. People obeyed the king as the ruler if they wanted to live peacefully in the land.

God blesses our work when we honor him as our King. His position is sovereign, not a name on a ballot. His holy word is law, not open for debate. His direction is our only choice, not a possible option. It is difficult for citizens of a democracy to yield our freedoms to our King. 

The rest of the proverb is our eternal motivation. Our King is perfect, holy, and loves us as a Father loves his child. When we commit our work—all that we do—to his perfect guidance, the plans God can bless will be established. God designs and directs our lives along a path he will be able to bless.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. Wisdom submits to God as King of our lives, and we are his servants, quite literally his slaves. Wisdom reminds us that we want God’s plans, direction, and blessings. That is our best life now and our great reward eternally. Working as a slave on the King’s path of blessing is good.

Have you ever noticed that when God answers prayers, his timing is what’s best for other things or people too? One of the best ways to recognize the work of God is that it is comprehensive in nature.

God wants to bless our lives, but those blessings are usually for the sakes of others as well. We might ask for one blessing only to discover that the answer was so much more “than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). 

Moses told God’s people, “The Lᴏʀᴅ will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land.” We can look at our families, friends, homes, cars, and everything we undertake knowing that God has blessed our lives with more than we ever would have asked for. 

We will never know this side of heaven all that we will exalt God for doing during our lives on earth. We will never fully realize that all we have, even the breath in our lungs, is because God has allowed and ordained it. If your life is abundantly blessed, then you have been blessed for reasons only God fully knows.

It is so important that we remember our blessings aren’t just for our lives. God has blessed us for reasons we don’t yet know so that we can bless others for reasons we may not yet know. Our blessings should impact those around us.

Our money can bless others. Our peace can overflow to others. Our joy can be noticed and desired by others. Our faith, and all the blessings that follow, should cause others to want to know our Lord and submit their lives to him as Lord and Savior.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. Our path of blessing will impact much more than we know if we walk it in God’s wisdom and for his good purpose.

We live in a goal-centered culture. There is a certain amount of thrill in achieving the goals we set for ourselves. Motivational speakers tell us that if we don’t have goals, we will end up in places we didn’t intend to go. Achieving our goals doesn’t always bring us more than momentary joy or success. Most of us have a history of weight loss and gain as proof!

Goals might lead us to the world’s path of success; God’s goals will lead us to a path of blessing. Which goals will be the most “satisfying” to our lives? Those are the goals we should most want to attain.

Jesus told his disciples which goal to aim for in his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught that we are to “hunger and thirst for righteousness” if we want to be satisfied with our lives. Righteousness means being right with God, living with the choices that find favor with him. The desire to be right with God should be a hunger and thirst in our lives.

When we consider those words with a first-century perspective, they take on new meaning. If we are hungry, we eat. If we are thirsty, we find something to drink. In the first century, everyone understood what it was like to be desperate for something to eat or drink. Hospitality wasn’t just a kindness in that culture; it was the choice to meet the serious needs of another person. 

Travel was mostly on foot and planning for the entire trip was difficult. Thieves could steal food and water. Accidents could strand travelers, leaving them with no shelter. Hunger and thirst could occur daily because of drought and famine. Consider the words of Christ with those thoughts in mind.

Jesus taught his disciples to value their relationship with God as much as they valued the security of that next drink of water or meal. Jesus taught us to desire a right relationship with God as a basic, daily need. The next time you are truly hungry or thirsty, remember what Jesus taught about your relationship to God.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. Our greatest blessings come from our right relationship to God. Are you satisfied, or do you need to wisely set a new goal? God’s greatest blessings flow from our desire to be right with him.

God doesn’t just ask his children to be peaceful; he wants his children to be “peacemakers.” God blesses our lives when we live as a conduit of his blessings to others. How do we become peacemakers?

In The Secret of Happiness, the evangelist Billy Graham wrote, “To be a peacemaker, you must know the peace-giver.” That’s what it means to be a conduit of God’s blessings. Christians aren’t just called to be light; we are called to give God’s light to the world. Christians aren’t given God’s love only for their lives; we are given God’s love so we then have his love to share with others. God doesn’t just give wisdom to those who ask; he gives wisdom to those who will use that wisdom for a kingdom purpose.

The children of God are those who wisely use the peace of God to bring his peace to others. Our blessing isn’t in simply having God’s peace in our own lives. We need to make certain our blessings can flow into the lives of others.

We can bring peace to the person behind the counter who has dealt with angry customers most of the day. We can bring peace to the disappointed traveler who missed their flight or whose plans may have been more important than ours. We can bring peace to the person who has more of the month left than the money for their month. We can bring God’s peace to those around us because God has brought that same peace into our lives. We know he is the giver of all good things.

Living as a peacemaker will be living with interruptions to our plans in order to follow God’s path of blessing. Peacemakers will need to wisely seek God’s peace before they have his peace to give. Peacemakers are blessed, and, most importantly, they are seen as “the children of God.” Doesn’t our world desperately need to witness the power and blessing of God through his children?

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. We should allow God’s wisdom to fully inspire us to become a peacemaker. We want people to see us and know they are seeing a “child of God.”

Many funeral homes use Matthew 5:4 on their printed programs. While God can be a blessing to people in their mourning, he does not bless people because they are mourning the loss of a loved one. God will always have compassion for the hurting, but not everyone will seek God’s comfort in times of grief. 

Jesus was teaching a much different lesson in his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was speaking about the way Christians should feel about our sins, those things that separate us from a right relationship with God.

We usually associate grief with the loss of someone we love, so over the years we have come to hear this beatitude of Christ in a wrong way. When Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn,” he was teaching us how to repent. Those words meant, “Blessed are those who mourn every choice that separates them from a right relationship with God.”

Grieving our sins will lead to blessing. Jesus taught that when we mourn our separation from God, he will comfort us. We are blessed with the promise of his forgiveness and love. 

Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets warned God’s people that their sacrifices at the altar meant nothing to God without a true heart of repentance. God wanted those sacrifices to help people understand that the cost of sin is separation from his favor, and, therefore, they should mourn the consequence of their choices.

Eventually, many of his people began to place the required sacrifice on the altar like we pay for a speeding ticket. We feel worse about the money we owe rather than feeling bad about the fact we could have hurt someone by driving too fast.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. Considering our sins as Jesus taught us is wise. We should be careful to mourn every sinful choice that separates us from God. God grieves our sinful choices because they hinder his blessings in our lives. Living with wisdom is living with wise choices. Grieving those things which take us from God’s path of blessing is the wise choice that leads to the blessing of his comfort and his forgiveness. What choice should you mourn so that God can bless you today?