Diapers and Wisdom

“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
(1 Corinthians 2:13)

One Sunday our study was on Proverbs 1 and we were talking about where wisdom today can be found. Our study gave us a list of places that you could or could not find godly wisdom and when I went through it with the youth they answered like this:

Me: “As I call out these items, let me know if godly wisdom can be found in them”.

Me: “Movies?”

Youth: "Depends” they replied.

Me: “What about church?”

Youth: Depends”

Me: “TV?”

Youth: “Depends”

Me: "Parents?”

Youth: "Depends"

Me: "The guy behind you in English class?”

Youth: “Depends”

Me: "What about the Bible?” 

Youth: “Of course you can!”

They said that with no hesitation. 

I still went on, 

Me: “Your youth minister or leaders?"

they went right back to “Depends”.

Me: “What about books or yourself?"

Youth: “Depends & Depends”.

Everything on that list, even churches, depended on what type it was, in whether or not you could find godly wisdom in them…except for the Bible, God’s Word.

The answer they were giving reminded me of something. They continually answered “Depends” and for some strange reason whether it be my 14 year old brain or the subliminal influence of years of TV commercials, my mind went straight to diapers…Weird Huh?

All of those things from Movies, to TV, to books or even churches, depended on one thing… were they godly? But like a Depends diapers, they could be full of it, or they could be clean. They could be good or they could be bad. But in all these places you have to be very careful in looking for godly wisdom. We know, without a doubt that we can go to the Bible, God’s Holy Word for a never ending source of truth and wisdom…never to be lead astray.

Our youth know that, do you? How much time do you spend in God’s word? Is it something that you share with your family? Is it the main place you seek your source of wisdom? If not, God wants to lavish you with wisdom. He wants you to overflow with the wisdom that only He can give. Is wisdom calling out to you?

“Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.”
(Proverbs 1:20-23)

Vern

A Fixer Upper

"You were bought at a price."
(1 Corinthians 6:20)

When a person purchases what they often call a "fixer upper" house, they expect to have to do a good bit of renovations. A lot of scraping paint, caulking, removing old lumber & replacing it with new, ripping out old carpet, replacing sheetrock, remove old light fixtures, install new trim, a lot of repainting, heck They may have to totally gut the whole house & start over to renovate the purchased home...just depends on how bad off it is. But even through all of that, the owner doesn't want to destroy that house, but to make that house something of worth, something of value, their intent is not to destroy the house, but to restore it to its former glory or better. They see the potential in what most people would give up on & mow down.

When God purchases us, He may have to pull off some old boards, He may have to scrape off some old paint, He even may have to totally gut out our lives, to renovate us, but He doesn't want to destroy us...His intentions are for us to become someone who will glorify His name to make us someone of spiritual value, someone of spiritual worth.

This came to me during a fundraiser for a friend's ministry that God has placed on his heart. The ministry is called Renovation Ministries, please take the time to check out the website & follow God in how He may want you to get involved in helping them renovate the lives of those who God loves & most have given up on.

Vern

Insane Tire Repair

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity; to give prudence to the naive, to the youth knowledge and discretion…”

(Proverbs 1:1-4)

There was a man who had a flat right in front of an insane asylum. He got out & started working on changing the tire, while an inmate quietly watched his every move from inside the gated yard of the asylum. While changing the tire the man would place all his lug nuts in the hubcap he removed from his flat tire, so not to misplace them. But when he was struggling to place the spare on the car he stepped on the hubcap, slinging the lug nuts onto the road, where all five rolled through the grate of the drainage ditch. The man became angry & started talking to himself, “What now…what now…UHHGG!” as he paced back & forth wondering how he would get those lug nuts out.

The inmate that had been quietly watching throughout this whole ordeal spoke up. “Why don’t you take one lug nut off of each one of the other wheels & place them on that spare. Then drive down to the closest gas station & buy a new set?” The man stood there in amazement at the inmate’s words then responded, “That’s a great idea, but what are you doing in that asylum…I thought you were crazy?”

The inmate replied, “I may be crazy, but I ain’t stupid!”

In the first chapter, verses 1-4, we see what the book of Proverbs was written for, to know wisdom. This is even more important for us as Christians; in 1 Corinthians 1:30 we see what or who that wisdom is…Jesus Christ. This is exactly where wisdom or knowledge truly begin (Proverbs 9:10).

You can attend all of the schools of higher learning & obtain all the degrees you want & have all the PHD’s, MA’s, MSED’s, DVD’s, CD’s, MSNBC’s, ect…& still have zip in the way of true wisdom. The Book of Proverbs is about how to obtain that true wisdom & how to rightly use that wisdom. The younger a person starts in this book the better. But without knowing Christ as Savior & Lord, this book will do you no good, until you do. Again He is the key…He is true wisdom, & knowing Him as well as following the truths in Proverbs will keep you from being as the inmate said earlier…“stupid”.

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)

Vern