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Allen: Proverbs 3:5-6 are
my favorite scripture! Proverbs 3:5,6 5 ”Trust in the LORD with all
your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge
Him, and He will make your paths straight. Even though these scriptures
don’t really sound like a way to start out an article on wisdom
I have learned that it is the basis for God’s Wisdom! It takes wisdom
to keep reminding ourselves “We do need to trust the Lord with all
our heart!” I have to realize that I can’t keep trying to
do everything under my own power. I have all these things going on in
my life like family, roping and business decisions! If I allow Him to
help me I can do anything! The wisdom part comes from fellowship, and
staying in the word. When I do these things I get this revelation knowledge
but when I don’t stay in the word it is kind of hard for me to say
I’m operating in wisdom. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God”
Clay: These are excellent scriptures, Allen! Proverbs
3 and 4 both are really full of God telling us to get knowledge, wisdom
and understanding. He tells us that it is the most valuable thing we can
possess! As you get older and more experienced in life it becomes evident
that these assets are the most important! In your younger years you don’t
pay as much attention to those attributes. Then when you start to mature
you realize how much of an asset wisdom is! For me personally it seemed
like I learned from my mistakes. I finally realized the importance of
being able to operate in wisdom. When I started trying to do that I found
it touched so many areas of my life! Just being able to think before we
speak is an incredible attribute. More people are hurt from words than
we could ever imagine! If we operate in wisdom we learn to analyze the
Pros and Cons of the decisions we are making. I learned, that when I was
in doubt, if I done what I knew in my heart to be right the end result
would be good and pleasing to God!
Allen: We find this same teaching in Proverbs 8. Proverbs
8:1-12 1 “Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise
her voice? 2 On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes
her stand: 3 beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances,
she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to
all mankind. 5 You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish,
gain understanding. 6 Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my
lips to speak what is right. 7 My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips
detest wickedness. 8 All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is
crooked or perverse. 9 To the discerning all of them are right; they are
faultless to those who have knowledge. 10 Choose my instruction instead
of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, 11 for wisdom is more precious
than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. 12 “I,
wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.”
One thing I would like to point out. Over and over in Proverbs God is
trying to point out that wisdom is better than anything you can get. It
is better than winning world championships, it is better than making money,
it is better than all the fame and fortune you could ever obtain! He is
trying to tell us that if we get a hold of wisdom all of the rest will
come!
Clay: I wish that I had learned that earlier in my career!
As I look back on my younger years I definitely needed to exercise wisdom
a lot more! In the roping world or our careers there are so many decisions
to make. We have to try to make the right choices. It takes real wisdom
to be able to know how to conduct ourselves and act with integrity no
matter what the situation. With wisdom we can evaluate the situations
or relationships that we have and make good choices that will impact our
lives for the better! By not doing this we end up making poor choices
that almost always end in disaster on some level or another!
Allen: This leads me to another scripture that just came to my head, Matthew
6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness
and all these things will be added unto you.” Isn’t it funny
how all God’s words confirm each other! God’s not saying,
work for Me, seek Me, and you can do without all that other stuff! He
tells us that if we seek Him first all of the other stuff will come! He
tells us this all through the Bible! If we read on down in Proverbs 8:
17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. 18 With me are
riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. 19 My fruit is better
than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. 20 I walk in the
way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, 21 bestowing wealth on
those who love me and making their treasuries full. Can you get a grip
on what God is saying right here? If we have the faith to put Him first
He will provide all that we need in life! How powerful is that!
Clay: Allen, that scripture just confirms what I’m
about to say. The truly successful and happy people that I see operate
in a high level of wisdom. These people genuinely enjoy a good life! They
make a sacrifice to get knowledge and understanding! I have been more
impacted in my life from people like this! This type of happiness is evident
and it makes you want to be around these types of people and it makes
you want to obtain that same happiness! I’m not only talking about
financial success but success in all aspects of our lives. You can have
financial success and have a horrible relationship with family and friends
and you can be miserable! The true reward for life is having happiness
in all aspects, at least that’s what true happiness is for me!
Allen: Let me explain it like this. Wisdom, by definition,
is the application of knowledge. Think about that a moment, it is the
application, that means that you have to apply the knowledge. Everyone
knows, on some level or another, that it is the ability to make the right
decisions that help you succeed in any area of your life! Now think about
this, as a teenager how many decisions did you or do you have to make
a day? Now if you have to think back on that question, do you remember
how many bad decisions you made as a young person? If you are a young
person think about what you can do with the knowledge of God right now!
Get into the word and apply it to your life! Now is the time to start
making WISE choices! Living a Godly life takes practice and you have to
learn how to make the right choices! You have to learn to lift things
up to the Lord and ask Him, “Lord is this the right thing to do?”
Ask God for wisdom, He tells us in James that He will pour it out liberally
and without reproach! Do you understand that He is giving us this gift
of wisdom and He is not even going to say I told you so! |
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