Wisdom is a precious commodity. Everyone wants it. Not everyone has it. Knowledge and wisdom often get interchanged, but, in my opinion, they are very different. Knowledge is knowing that the stove burner is hot whereas wisdom is not putting your hand on that hot burner. Knowledge is simply “knowing,” information storage, gained through education, studying, reading, memorizing, etc. Wisdom, on the other hand, has to do with insight, using knowledge to make sound decisions.

Having wisdom is important for navigating the treacherous roads of life, and finding the proper source of that wisdom is of paramount importance. The Bible tells us that human wisdom is foolishness – “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19). And since God is the creator of all wisdom (Proverbs 8:22-31), it seems prudent (wise) to tap into his wisdom above all other sources.

How do we gain God’s wisdom? I believe it comes by the Holy Spirit helping us understand the ways and works of God. It comes by spending time with God and in His Word. It comes by prioritizing our walk with God; a walk that begins by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. I see God as the initiator, Jesus as the implementer, and the Spirt and the energizer of faith and everything that comes in and through that faith.

Proverbs 3 is a wonderful chapter that gives us the rewards (blessings) of seeking and having proper wisdom, the wisdom of God. We find this challenge and promise in vv.5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He with make your paths straight.”

To me, those verses say to not try figuring out life solely with human wisdom, but instead, tap into the true source of wisdom, and by doing so, you can find “true north,” which will greatly help in navigating life. Notice these verses do not say you can avoid all turbulence by having this wisdom. In fact, Jesus tells us that life is full of rough air (John 16:33). Nor do I think Solomon was saying to ignore wise counsel from others. God sometimes speaks to us through other people. The primary way God guides us in through his Word and he never guides contrary to what is found in His Word, so discernment (wisdom) is needed when hearing from others.

As I stated, Proverbs 3 lists a number of “godly wisdom” rewards. Here is just a sampling – healing for your body, refreshment to your bones (v.8), your barns will be filled with plenty, your vats overflowing with new wine (10), God’s wisdom is better than silver, fine gold, more precious than jewels (14-15), your foot will not stumble (23), your sleep will be sweet (24). I think you would be wise to read the entire chapter. To do so, click here.

Do you lack God’s wisdom? Do you need more of God’s wisdom? Right now, what decision are you about to make that requires a dose of God’s wisdom? Here is what we find in James 1:5 – “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” As I always do, I encourage you to read this verse in its context (James 1:1-8).

Are you looking to the true source of wisdom?

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I ask you to think of that person in your life whom you deeply respect; that someone you look up to. It could be someone you know – family member, friend, teacher, coach, pastor, or co-worker. Or maybe that person is someone afar – world leader, business leader, celebrity, or athlete. You likely respect them because of what they’ve accomplished or how they conduct their life. This person is not someone simply respected because of who they are, but rather, they have earned your respect.

It is also true that respect is fleeting. I am sure that you can also think of that person whom you deeply respected, only to find out that the person you thought they were was not really who they were. We are a culture that enjoys putting people upon pedestals and sadly also sometimes get satisfaction from watching them fall off that pedestal and shatter into pieces.  

While we honor people for the things they say and do, we are called to honor God simply because He is God. In teaching us how the pray, Jesus starts off his prayer like this – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9) That word hallowed is not one we typically use in everyday language, yet most modern version of the Bible retain it. It comes from the Greek word hagiazó, and is the passive voice of the verb, meaning “to treat as holy.”

Notice that Jesus does not begin by saying something along the lines of “Our Father in heaven, because You are faithful, because You are trustworthy, may You be honored.” Instead, Jesus acknowledges that the Name of God is hallowed, simply because of who God is. Jesus is saying, “Let your Name be holy.” What name? God’s Divine Name, his Personal Name, the name he revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. That name is YHWH, Yahweh, or the Latinized name, Jehovah (JeHoWaH).

God’s Name is holy because God is holy, not by what He does but because of who He is. In saying “hallowed by Your name,” Jesus is not referencing God’s reputation. He is instead calling us to recognize God and His Name to be holy, and someone who we can personally address as such, without fear of it being fleeting or temporary reverence.

So, while those people we respect occasionally lose our respect and shatter into pieces, you can forever be assured that God is worthy to be praised, simply because His name is hallowed. There is none like Him.

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We live in a self-centered world. One in which many people see themselves as the center of the universe. The bullseye on the dart board. Our culture is also one of self-realization (actualization); the need to fulfill one’s full potential.

I realize those statements are an overly broad stroke of my paint brush and are intended to simply be a generalization of society as a whole. Psychologist Abraham Maslow puts this idea of self-realization as the final stage of development in his “Hierarchy of Needs.” Maslow said it is, “self-fulfillment to become actualized in what he is potentially.”

I see nothing wrong with the desire to become better versions of ourselves. But there is a danger in striving to be “fully” ourselves. Doing so in a self-focused way, we are essentially saying “I have no need for Jesus.” While society says self-realization, I propose a different approach to becoming our best self: Christ-realization. A central theme of the gospel message is re-birth: being reborn as a believer in Jesus Christ, becoming sons and daughters of God. To me, this idea of re-birth implies dying to our self-centered self and wholeheartedly seeking the ways and purposes of the kingdom of God. The apostle Paul wrote, “our old self was crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). He also penned these words, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In my understanding, becoming our best self happens through the leading of the Holy Spirit. If we truly walk with Jesus, we become increasingly more sensitive to the Spirit’s activity. Doing so requires a belief that the Father is always at work, in the world and in our lives, and learning to perceive what He is doing and joining him in that work. As Jesus was preparing his disciples for his departure, He said this to them – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). Our best self happens in following the way, work, walk of Christ, being guided by the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not some add-on that super-Christians receive. We all receive the Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I see it as a package deal. The Holy Spirit resides in every believer in Jesus Christ and is our helper, teacher, guide. Receiving the Spirit is automatic. Asking to be led by him requires intentionality. If we ask to be guided (controlled) by the Spirit, we are told this by Jesus – “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).

Self-realization might help you fulfill your “destiny,” but Christ-realization leads to you fulfilling your God-given purpose. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (a series of questions and answers about basic Christian doctrine) asks the question, “What is the chief end of man?” Or asked another way – “What am I here for? What is my purpose?” The catechism answers that question with this – “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

Right now, humble yourself, seek the Spirit’s guidance, and pray these words of David, words he cried out as he fled from Saul and hid in a cave – “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purposes for me” (Psalm 57:2).

Who is the center of your life?

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When was the last time that you were longing for something to eat even though you were not really even hungry? You just felt like eating, so you went to the refrigerator or kitchen pantry and found something, anything. But, even after eating, you still had an “emptiness” somewhere deep inside. Or maybe, it is not food, but instead, career, popularity, relationships, wealth, sculpted body, hobbies, that you look to, to fill the emptiness.

We all experience some sort of longing, an emptiness. We all feel some void in our soul. And we look to satisfy that longing and fill that void with all sorts of things, some I just mentioned. Be honest, none of the worldly things we seek after completely fill the longing and emptiness. We experience temporary satisfaction, but never lasting. And if a little bit does not help, maybe more and more will. Again, only temporary, never lasting. We try to fill our baskets with all kinds of goodies.

I believe that God made each one of us, wonderfully made I might add (Psalm 139:14), with a hole in our soul that only he can fill. He desperately desires to be in relationship with you and with me. That relationship however is severed by sin and can only be rightly restored through God’s Son, Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 tells us “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

Looking for satisfaction outside of God only leads to dissatisfaction, and ultimately more emptiness. Whereas, filling that empty place in your soul with Jesus always brings the “richest of fares.” Putting your trust in Jesus and spending unhurried time with him will satisfy you like nothing else ever will. Always. Every time. We find these words in Isaiah – “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David” (55:1-3).

Is your basket empty? Or maybe it is filled, but with all the wrong things. Where do you look to fill that empty place in your soul?

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Did you know that the southward and northward flowing ocean currents of the Atlantic Ocean meet near Cape Hatteras, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks? Here the Gulf Stream, warm and salty, breaks away from the coastline and heads eastward toward Europe, but not before converging with the Labrador Current that carries cold and relatively fresh water from the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans. These two water masses have very different densities, so they don’t just quietly mix, but rather, they collide with one another. Thus, these volatile and dangerous waters are known as “The Graveyard of the Atlantic.”

Both the Gulf Stream and Labrador Current are rapid moving surface currents, meaning they are driven by global wind systems and fueled by the sun’s energy. Slow moving and looping deep water currents on the other hand, which make up the majority of the ocean’s waters, are due to differences in water density (water temperature and salinity). 

The ocean is one of our favorite places to hang out. And whether it is low tide or high tide, whether there is a rip current or very little current, or whether the ocean water is cold from the Labrador Current or warm and salty from the Gulf Stream, one thing about the ocean is constant – while the water ebbs and flows and the tide rises and falls, the ocean keeps crashing onto the shore. The waves, whether big or small, just keeping coming, one right after another.

While our lives ebb and flow, some days life seems calm with soft gentle waves and other days you find yourself staring at some of the world’s biggest and most dangerous surf breaks, you can rest assured that just like the ocean is always the ocean regardless of the water conditions, God is always love, God is always faithful, God is always in control, regardless of your life conditions.

We find these words in Psalm 42:7-8 – “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life.”

In those verses, v.7 is one of lament. The psalmist is downcast, possibly sensing deep despair. Yet, in v.8, one of tremendous hope, he still experiences evidence of God’s great love. A love that just keeps washing over him. Stand in the ocean and the water will constantly wash over you. Stand in God’s love and it too will always wash over you, wave after wave after wave.

So, regardless of the condition of the ocean water that you stand in, whether it is calm and peaceful or volatile and dangerous, run in and out of God’s waves of love and let Him refresh you over and over and over again.

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“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

Those are the words from the well known 23rd Psalm. This Psalm is commonly read at funerals and is often thought of only in that context – comforting words for those in sorrow and mourning. The psalm is very comforting and soothing to those who are hurting. But it is so much more; it is a psalm about a shepherd’s provision, protection, and preservation. It is about the sheep’s confidence, contentment, and courage.

So, no matter whether life is good and you find yourself sitting on a sunny beach or life is a struggle and all you see are dark clouds, today put yourself in the place of the sheep and now re-read the psalm, looking for the ways in which God provides for you, protects you, and preserves you so that you can have confidence, contentment, and courage, regardless of the weather conditions in your life!

I have Confidence because of my Shepherd’s Provision:

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

I have Contentment because of my Shepherd’s Protection:

“Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

I have Courage because my Shepherd’s Preservation:

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

So, don’t just think of the 23rd Psalm as words to be read at a funeral, think of it also as a daily reminder that Jesus, your Good Shepherd, looks out for you each and every day, and that you can trust in Him and look to Him for everything you need, always and forever!

The Bible often refers to God as the shepherd and his people as the sheep. I will end with these wonderful words from Jesus himself, found in John 10:14-15 – “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

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