Wisdom-Trek ©

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 584of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Fairness - The Tools in Gramps' Backpack

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 584 of our trek, and it is Motivation Monday. We are hiking a series of trails called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack. Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks we will explore a different tool that is needed to motivate and equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the 15th tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Fairness. 

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this trek is released, I will be back in Arizona for a week to continue our work on our construction projects there. If all goes as planned, I will invest much of the week preparing the contract for Phase II. If the contract is accepted, we should be able to move forward with construction within the next 60 days.

One conclusion that I have come to over my years of observations in business and indeed all of life is that life is not always fair. Not everyone has the same perspective about life, and it will usually stem back from lack of ethics, lack of compassion, and lack of understanding when dealing with others.

As parents, grandparents, and mentors to others, we need to teach those we impact that life is not always fair while still teaching and practicing fairness in our own lives and interactions in all areas of life as we deal with others.

While others and life itself may not always seem fair, the tool that we want to use and pass on to our children, grandchildren, and others is…

Fairness

You make many decisions each day, and as much as humanly possible, you need to be fair to everyone, including yourself.  You need to be savvy, but fair to manage the affairs of daily life, including the affairs of your family life.

With all of the political correctness and situational ethics that seem to drive most decisions today, where can you turn for deciding what is fair and what is not? Gramps’ backpack that contains all of the tools we are exploring is God’s Word, the Bible. It is God’s timeless guide for decision making and being fair in the decisions that you must make each day. This applies to your dealings with family members, friends, associates, and even your business decisions. In Proverbs 11:1 King Solomon told us what God expects in business, but applies to all of life, "The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights."

Instead of being anxious or fretting over whether your decision making is fair in all your dealings, go to the Bible for guidance, especially in the book of Proverbs for practical, everyday tips on many of life’s issues. As a parent or grandparent, it can be very tough to be fair in each situation, but as much as possible, you need to pass on balanced fairness to those that you teach and train.

Jesus should be the preeminent one in our lives, and because of this, we should practice his teachings. We should love each other, submit to each other and treat each other fairly as Jesus taught us.

A sound practice from Isaiah 1:17 gives us a brief outline:

"Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows."

It could be said that every person is as holy and full of the Spirit as they choose to be. A person may not be as full as they wish to be, but as full as they desire to be. The Prophet Micah also gave us a template to live a life that displays fai...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 583 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

What Is Lifestyle?

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 583 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are on an extended multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I have adapted it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This has been a pleasant spring week with the mature maples and oaks finally budding and their leaves starting to show. It won’t be long before we are in full foliage once again. I am making progress on cutting up the trees that we had cut down. They were large and cutting them up into manageable sections is proving to be very physically challenging. The stack along the side of the garage is growing rapidly. I suspect it will be several more weeks before the cleanup project is complete. We hope to invest in a log splitter this fall since many of the pieces are too large to carry or fit into the fireplace.

While I enjoy being outside and doing physical labor, it certainly creates sore muscles that I don’t use as rigorously during my daily exercise routine. Although life is far from perfect, and we struggle like everyone, we are focusing on enjoying our daily lifestyle and being content with how life is and not how we wish it to be. We certainly strive to improve our lifestyle but choose to be content as we work on those improvements.

As we continue on our extended trek today, we will begin our 5th trail, which is The Trail of Lifestyle. The final blending of our philosophy, attitude, activity, and results is what creates this final personal quest that we call lifestyle. If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far.

We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and begin the fifth trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Lifestyle Part (1)

As a reminder, our overall extended trek covers these five trails:

Philosophy

Attitude

Activity

Results

Lifestyle

1. What Is Lifestyle?

Lifestyle is how we choose to live and how we design our lives. It is the sophisticated understanding of the difference between life’s trinkets and life’s treasures.

Many have learned to earn well, but they have not yet learned to live well. It’s as though they have decided to wait until they become wealthy before they start practicing sophistication. What they fail to understand is that practiced sophistication is as much a cause of wealth as it is a result of wealth.

Some attribute their poor attitude about life to their low level of income. They maintain that if they ever solved their money problems, they would show us what happiness is really all about. Obviously, they have not yet discovered that it was their failure to find happiness in the past that has affected their current income. If they continue with this error in judgment, their lack of happiness in the present will determine their future income as well. Until they have discovered that happiness is part of the cause and th...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 582 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Doors of Wisdom Are Never Shut – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 582 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today quote is from Ben Franklin who said, "The doors of wisdom are never shut."

As time quickly rushes by and days turn into months, years, and decades, we start to feel that life is passing us by, and we are missing so many opportunities. No matter what your age, economic status, ability, or talents, there never comes a time where you cease the ability to gain wisdom, insight, understanding and knowledge. You may have to seek for it, but the reservoir is full. And it is up to you to drink deeply of the waters.

If you struggle with finding that reservoir of wisdom all we need to do is to ask God for it. James the half-brother of Jesus told us in his letter 1:5-8, "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."Also, King Solomon wrote to us in Proverbs 2:6, "For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding."We are without excuse. As Ben Franklin said, "The doors of wisdom are never shut.  Go to that open door and receive wisdom."

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes and Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Philosophy Friday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 581 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Embrace Lady Wisdom - Proverbs 3

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 581 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 4 from The Voice Translation, which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. One of the primary objectives for Wisdom-Trek is to help you create and build a living legacy. A legacy which is much more that material possessions. A legacy that weaves into your life character traits that are both good and godly. A legacy of unwavering integrity. A legacy that is built on a solid foundation from which you can grow and flourish. A legacy that is passed on to your children, grandchildren, and others that you impact both in word and action. A legacy that they can embrace and pass on for generations to come. That is what the father in this chapter is teaching his children.

So today in Chapter 4 of Proverbs, we will explore how to…

Embrace Lady Wisdom

In this chapter, we find three more speeches from the father to his son.

· 5th Speech from Father to Son

Verses 1-9: At the beginning of this chapter the father gathers his children around for a special speech. It’s almost like he’s a proud, slightly worried dad giving a wedding toast. He shares the words he received years ago from his own father, urging him to embrace Lady Wisdom. “She will raise you to a place of honor in return,” he says. Notice the reverent, relational way the father speaks of Lady Wisdom to his sons

· 6th Speech from Father to Son

Verses 10-19: Now the father and son sit down for a man-to-man talk. No more soft words like “cherish,” “honor,” or “embrace.” He uses stark contrasts to make his point. There are only two ways of life — wickedness or righteousness. Notice that there’s not a third option. Choose light or dark, life or death; it’s up to you. Just like in Chapter 3, the father uses very pointed, descriptive vocabulary to clarify the benefits and consequences of the two distinct paths

· 7th Speech from Father to Son

Verses 20-27: For the seventh speech, the father builds on the preceding one. Once the correct path is chosen, the father makes his son ready for the journey. He stresses that following this path will require his heart, eyes, ears, mouth, and feet. Count how many times each is referenced. To stay on this path requires your whole being. These words are not just mere advice — they are “life that brings wholeness and healing to your body.”

The Book of Proverbs teaches us how to live the GOOD and GODLY life – walking the radiant path with Lady Wisdom at our side. What paths are you ready to forsake to choose the rich and satisfying life? Listen up and pay attention as I share with your Proverbs Chapter 4.

1 Gather, children, to hear your father’s instruction.

Pay close attention so you will understand,

2 For I am passing down to you important precepts.

Do not abandon these valuable life lessons.

3 Back when I was young—the very image of my father,

and yet from my mother’s view, still her only boy—

4 My father, with his years of experience, became my teacher.

Father: Son, grab on to every word I say to you—hold them close—

stay true to my instructions as you live, and they will serve you well.

5 Whatever it takes to gain Wisdom, do it.

To gain understanding, do it! Never forget this!

Never stray from what I am telling you.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 580 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Forgive Yourself – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 580 of our trek, and it's time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Alden Nowlan who said, "The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise."If you have been an adult for any length of time, I know that you will relate to this quote. It hits us hard when we realize that our parents don’t know everything and are very fallible in many areas of their life. Even as grown adults, to see our elderly parents not being the strong stalwarts that we once envisioned is difficult for us to reconcile.

To be a true adult, we must accept our parents as they are, not what we envisioned them to be. We must be willing to forgive them as often as may be needed. True wisdom will begin to shed light on our understanding when we realize that in many ways, we are also fallible, just like they are.

We must forgive ourselves for the many ways in which we have disappointed both our children and our parents. It is only when we can forgive ourselves that we will be able to truly forgive others. It is only when we stop judging our parents and others in our lives that we will be able to forgive them.

When we forgive and are willing to give of ourselves, it is then the blessings from God will be poured out on us also. As Jesus taught us in Luke 6:36-38 "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years.  If you would like free access to my database of inspirational quotes the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes and Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Wisdom Wednesday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 579 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Optimism - The Tools in Gramps' Backpack

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 579 of our trek, and it is Motivation Monday. We are hiking a series of trails called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack.

Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks, we are exploring a different tool that is needed to motivate and equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the 14th tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Optimism.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. I am recording this before the weekend, but if all goes according to plan and the weather cooperates, I will be investing most of my time during this weekend continuing to cut up the large trees that we had cut down in March. There is a lot left to complete, so I doubt that this project will be finished.

This last week has been a busy one, but we were able to complete the remaining tax returns that were on our schedule. We are optimistic that we can now focus more time on some of the other projects that need our attention. Having an optimistic, but realistic outlook and focus on life is imperative to success in all areas of life. It is also a crucial character trait to teach to our children, grandchildren, and others that we impact. They will certainly learn more by observing us and how we view various situations of life.

Although I grew up in a poor family financially, my parents always displayed an optimistic outlook on life. They were so rich in many others areas of life. I learned that material wealth was not nearly as important as having wealth in the non-material areas, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the character traits that we need to optimistically pass on to others.

So the tool that we will explore today is...

Optimism

Optimistic parents and grandparents will use the power of positive thoughts to improve their own lives, and then pass those traits onto those that they impact. Especially as Christ followers, we have every reason to be optimistic about life. The green grass, the blue skies, and all of creation give us ample reason to be optimistically joyful.

How many times though is rejoicing the last thing on our minds? Too often we fall prey to worry, frustration, anxiety, and sheer exhaustion that cause the burdens of life to weigh us down. What is needed is plenty of rest, exercise, nutritious food, and a large dose of realistic perspective. Sure life is hard sometimes, but being optimistic and joyful about life makes it so much easier.

An optimistic attitude about life is all-important. Let the soul take a quiet attitude of faith and love toward God.

When we truly put our faith and trust in God and realize that He controls all of life, we can rest in the fact that He will indeed see us through anything that we may face. This is a reminder to us that even when the challenges of the day seem overwhelming, and even those times when our hearts are broken, God remains steadfast, and so must we. Jesus’s half-brother James tells us in Chapter 1 verses 16-18, "So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession."

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 578 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Two Choices We Face - Results

Hello, my friend, and welcome to Wisdom-Trek! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your Guide to Wisdom and Creating a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast.

This is Day 578 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are on an extended multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle.  I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I have adapted it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It has been a rainy, but a mild week of spring. We are enjoying the warmer temperatures, the flowers that are in bloom, and our pair of hawks that are waiting patiently for their new chicks to arrive. The leaves on the smaller trees are just starting to show some green while the large mature maples and oaks will soon follow. With the passing of each new day, we see signs of new life that are expected in the season of spring.

As we continue on our extended trek today, we will conclude our 4th trail, which is The Trail of Results. We would consider it odd if during the spring no flowers bloomed and no trees brought forth their leaves. These are expected results of spring. Yet with many people, we do not see the results in their lives that we would expect and they are capable of producing.

This will be our focus for today. If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and conclude the fourth trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Results Part 8

As a reminder, our overall extended trek covers these five trails:

Philosophy

Attitude

Activity

Results

Lifestyle

1. How Far Should We Reach?

It seems that every life form on this planet strives toward its maximum potential...except human beings.

A tree does not grow to half its potential size and then say, “I guess that will do.” A tree will drive its roots as deep as possible. It will soak up as much nourishment as it can, stretch as high and as wide as nature will allow, and then look down as if to remind us of how much each of us could become if we would only do all that we can.

Why is it that human beings, who are bearers if God’s image, and surely the most intelligent life form on earth, do not strive to achieve their maximum potential? Why is it that we allow ourselves to stop half way? Why are we not constantly striving to become all that we can be? The reason is simple: By God’s grace and design, we have been given the freedom of choice.

In most cases, choice is a gift. When it comes to doing all that you can with your abilities and your opportunities, choice can sometimes be more of a curse than a blessing. All too often you choose to do far less than you could do. You would rather relax under the shade of the growing tree than to emulate its struggle for greatness.

2.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 577 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

What Drives Change? – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 577 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget:

Today's quote is from Leo Tolstoy who said, "The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience."Change…no one really likes it, and we resist change either consciously or unconsciously nearly all the time. True change comes to our lives because we determine that it is not possible to continue living as we are currently. Our conscience may nudge or prompt us to change, but it is all too easy to ignore God’s still small voice within our conscience. In fact, it is possible to so sear our conscience that we can not longer hear that prompting.

As humans, God has given us free will to make our own choices. In doing so, we have the innate capability to rationalize and justify any choice or decision that we make. It is only when the desire to change is greater than the desire to stay the same will we force ourselves to make and accept the changes that are needed in our lives.

Sometimes God does allow the consequences of previous decisions to be a change agent in our lives. We should be receptive to this. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to his apprentice in Timothy 2:24-26, "A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants."

So be willing and open to the internal promptings of God to make the needed changes each day to make a positive impact on the lives of others.

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.  As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically for you.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly I am your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Philosophy Friday!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 576 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

More Precious Than Jewels - Proverbs 3

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 576 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails, we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 3 from The Voice Translation, which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. In addition to our grandson Kip staying with us last week, we had the blessing of investing time with all of our grandkids over the weekend. Some of them even stayed overnight on Friday, which is always a fun time. Although each one is different, each of them is a precious jewel to us. In Proverbs, Solomon tells us that God’s wisdom infused within us is like wearing fine jewelry. It is also described as being more valuable than gold or silver.

So today in chapter 3 of Proverbs we will explore how wisdom is…

More Precious Than Jewels

In this chapter, we’ve got two more speeches from the father to the son, with a poem about Lady Wisdom nestled in between.

· 3rd Speech from Father to Son

Verses 1-12: This speech is a classic that contains some familiar verses. The father leaves behind the earlier emphasis on outside evil forces and moves on to encourage the son to address his own character. Pay attention to the physicality of the words and how often the father uses “you/your” to highlight personal works of faith and their rewards.

Give God your best of what you make, and you will prosper to the fullest with plenty of food and drink. The last two verses in this section (11-12) stand out because they don’t focus on prizes for honoring God. Instead, the father encourages the son to accept God’s discipline. Don’t lose heart when times are hard, he says, but rather trust that God corrects those He loves—like a father disciplining a son.

· 2nd Speech from Lady Wisdom

Verses 13-20: This is a beautiful poem about the value of wisdom, personified once more as a woman. “No gem is more precious;” the author sighs, “nothing you desire can compare with her.” The poet paints Lady Wisdom as a haven, a resting place, and a force of peace — a powerful one. In fact, she’s compared to the “tree of life” from Genesis 2:9, and in verses 19-20 we’re told that God himself employed wisdom to create the world, “It was by Wisdom that the Eternal fashion the earth.” God’s wisdom is a powerful force in this universe, and we have access to it!

· 4th Speech from Father to Son

Verses 21-35: This chapter ends with another speech from the father, emphasizing again that the way of wisdom is a way of peace. When you are wise, you’ll sleep well, live without fear, and will avoid traps that other people easily fall into. The father gives some practical relationship advice aimed at bringing peace. Give people what they are owed, don’t think of ways to harm people, don’t accuse people without evidence, and don’t envy people who get things through violence.

1 My son, always remember what I have taught you;

keep my instructions dear to your heart.

2 If you do, they will be your guide to

a long, healthy, prosperous life.

3 Stay focused; do not lose sight of mercy and truth;

engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck;

meditate on them so they are written upon your heart.

4 In this way, you will win the favor of God and others,

and they will think well of you.

5 Place your trust in the Eternal; rely on Him completely;

never depend upon your own ideas and inventions.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 575 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Ultimate Love – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 575 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from John Owen who said, "That wisdom which cannot teach me that God is love, shall ever pass for folly."

Wisdom and folly, love and hate, pain and pleasure, good and evil. We tend to think of these attributes as opposites, but they are all closer than most of us realize. God created humans for fellowship with Him and to be bearers of His image. God is holy, He knows what is best for us, and therefore He has given us guidelines to follow which are found in His Word.

These precepts or guidelines were not created because God desires to restrict us, but it is because of His love for us. He knows what is best for us. It is because of His love for us that He has also given us free will which allows us the choice of whether we will live by His precepts. It is because of His love for us that He permits us to reap the harvest from the seeds of the choices that we make. God is love, and because of His love for us, if we choose to learn from Him and gain His wisdom, we will also love Him. God is also a God of justice, not because He desires to punish us, but justice as a result of our choice on whether we choose to follow His precepts. To think that God would arbitrarily punish us is folly.

Because of God’s love for us, we should love each other. In fact, God’s entire law can be summed up in two statements. Love God, love others. The Apostle John explained it this way in his 1st letter in Chapter 4 verses 7-12, "Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us."That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like free access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day!