Bible Thoughts

March 25, 2001

The world has many views as to what constitutes a wise man. It is not unusual to have some express, while listening to another, how "wise" is a particular person. Such an appraisal is usually based upon the momentary impression made by the speaker. Others who hear the conversation believe there are others more wiser. The wisdom of a person is not based upon one's ability to verbally express his thoughts. It is not based upon the number of colleges he has attended, nor the success one has in the business world. True and lasting wisdom comes not from the appraisals of men, but from God. An inspired wise man, Solomon, expressed what constitutes a wise man in the writings of Proverbs.

A wise man prepares for times of hardship in advance(10:5).

A wise man respects the authority of those who oversee and guide him(10:8).

A wise man learns to speak with caution(10:9).

A wise man is interested in the souls of men and does his part in their conversion(11:30).

A wise man is ready to listen to the advice of those who have gone before him(12:15).

A wise man, even as a youth, will heed his father's instructions(13:1).

A wise man is careful in the use of his speech(15:2).

A wise man uses his tongue to disperse knowledge instead of dispersing trouble(15:7).

A wise man will let his heart of wisdom control his tongue instead of fleshly emotions(16:23).

A wise man realizes that he never gets too old to learn(19:20).

A wise man does not err from that which is right by the use of strong drink(20:1).

A wise man treats all individuals with fairness(24:23).

A wise man, above all, respects the law of God(28:7).

There are many other verses in Proverbs that address this topic. The above scriptures will help us to put what constitutes a wise person in the right perspective. The appraisal of the world is different from God's appraisal. One question: What is your appraisal of yourself as a wise person?

Imagine if there was no light, just close your eyes and imagine. You would never see the sun rise or fall, or the flowers in your garden. Just imagine that there was no light, then thank God that there is light. In John 8:12, Jesus said that he is the light of the world and he that follows him shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. Just as in life there is the sun that God gave us, he gave Jesus to be the light in our spiritual lives. Many do not follow or rejoice in this light. Why? Is it the sun’s fault if you never open your eyes to see its light, or when you walk in a room that is dark, is it the light’s fault if you don’t switch it on?

Just imagine the world without the sun, and that is the situation you are in if you refuse to see this light. It’s not the fault of Jesus if you don’t see the light, it’s yours.-Vaughn Botha

My mother used to send me to the grocery store with a list of items seemingly a mile long to pick up for the house. Typical items would include milk, bread, orange juice, etc. In all actuality the majority of times there were only probably ten items or less but to me the inconvenience and embarrassment made the list seem so much more. I remember I used to race through the aisles on my quest to obtain all of the much-cherished and needed goods for the family, checking off items one by one as I had completed that portion of my task. It was with great joy when I could finally check off the last one that signaled my endeavor as being complete.

Often times we treat Christianity as though it had a “checklist” and once we have checked all our items off, then we can call the task of our spirituality successfully complete. This checklist is obtained from grouped sections of scripture as well as various single sections of text grouped together. Examples of such can be found in the ten commandments (Exodus 20), the beatitudes (Matthew 5), Galations 5:21ff, Philippians 4:8ff, or even 2 Peter 1:5ff. We might even be prone to use our five acts of worship as being an additional checklist of Christianity alongside the others or even by themselves. In these segments of scripture we see listings of spiritual traits that the Christian is to exhibit in their daily lives and so therefore a tendency to create a mental note of these things and check them off when we find ourselves exhibiting these characteristics is quite easy. The Pharisaic concept of religion is similar to the checklist concept of Christianity. The root of which seems to be a legalistic mindset in reference to the scriptures. The Jewish people had three primary acts of religious piety: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting as we see illustrated in Jesus’ exhortation in Matthew 6. After the course of time, the tendency came for people to use these three acts, together, or even by themselves as a checklist for Jewish righteousness. Once you had given your alms, you had completed your spiritual mission for the day. The thought of our spiritual life being so unimportant seems to be contrary to what is taught in the New Testament scriptures. Our spiritual work is never completed. We must endeavor to always keep it in the forefront of our minds. It takes precedence over everything that we do in life for it is what illuminates our path in everything else. “Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness…”(Matthew 6:33). The beauty about the relationship between God and man is just this, as long as we continue to obey, all of its blessings of love, protection, etc. will never be over. Our relationship with God is not some checklist that can be completed, it’s a never-ending quest between both God and man to pursue a common goal.-Joe Cook