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Wisely Increase in Learning
If someone were to use the words “knowledgeable” and “wise” to describe an individual what immediately pops into your mind? Perhaps you picture an aged man stroking his snowy white beard as he slowly mulls over the problem brought up to him by a younger person. Maybe a seasoned woman dignified with elegant silver hair holding her grandkids comes into view. At the very least you likely think of an individual with many answers, much experience, and great skills in life. That is a biblical portrait of such a person. Yet, there is one more component to being a wise soul which we might often leave out.
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The War of Worship
Creator or creation . . . each individual shall bow before one or the other. Our hearts are made with a longing to worship. When speaking of idolatry in Romans 1 Paul says that the unbelievers had “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever! Amen (vs. 25).” This is a common dilemma of the human heart. We find ourselves either bowing before the true and living God or a false deity of our own fashioning. Biblical reality stares us in the face exclaiming that it is present all around us!
You Can Actually Make An Impact
Traveling through the pages of Scripture reveals to us that God often uses very normal individuals to accomplish His purpose. David was a shepherd boy (1 Samuel 17:34), Gideon was the least of the weakest (Judges 7:15), Jonah was a terrified prophet (Jonah 1:3), and Joseph was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). Not everyone used by God was like Samson empowered with superior strength and might. Many were simply everyday people whom God raised up according to His plan and purpose for His glory. God worked through them to bring the Messiah into the world and change the era of their day in many ways. Sometimes He worked through characters in very small ways. All Rahab did was hide the spies, yet the account of her courage has been given through the ages (Joshua 2). Naomi simply spoke wisdom to her daughter-in-law Ruth and in so doing was used by God to give guidance to one from whom the Messiah’s lineage would continue (Ruth and Matthew 1:5).
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The Blessing of The Generations
One of the everyday blessings of my life is the fact that I get to interact with individuals from multiple generations. Throughout a week’s time, I engage with everyone from infant age all the way up to individuals in their nineties. That interaction between the generational ages is a joy that is easy for us to skim over, but one we must not neglect. Scripture encourages us to look beyond our own generation into the future in terms of how we can have an impact for the kingdom.
Building The Wall . . . Holding The Sword
Ever since I was young I have always felt an exhilaration in getting to put my hands to work crafting something new. Perhaps it was the coffee table for the living room my dad and I built when I was about twelve. Maybe the bee supplies I built for my business, gun stocks I’ve worked on, or the raised beds we constructed for our gardens over the years. It is an enjoyable process to take a bunch of mixed materials, put them together, and cut them just the right way, in order to make something sturdy enough to serve its purpose for years.
Living With Vigilance
If being a beekeeper has shown me anything, it is that failure comes very easily. It is not that honey bees possess less of an ability to survive than other creatures . . . that would not be true. I think anyone who undertakes any form of agricultural endeavor could probably tell you that there are at least 1,001 ways for living organisms to perish. In my case, the ugly varroa mite (main pest against bees) could come upon my colony and cause their demise. The queen could accidentally get crushed right before the winter when I cannot replace her making me lose the whole box of bees. Honey stores can run low, a box top could be cracked open, or a mouse could sneak in and wreck the hive. Indeed, the opportunity for failure abounds!
