Acquire wisdom! Acquire
understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not
forsake her, and she will guard you; love her, and she will watch over you. The
beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get
understanding. Proverbs 4:5-7
What is the most important thing in life? What are you pursuing in life? Some people spend most of their time and
energy in pursuit of money. They make
all kinds of personal sacrifices to make more money. They move to where the job opportunities are. They choose their life’s work based on earning
potential. In all their getting, they
get money.
Others pursue recognition and status. Some of these people are PhD’s. Some are politicians. They spend hours upon hours getting degrees or
getting votes so that they can “be somebody” according to a certain definition
of what that means in their own minds.
For other people a healthy body or a beautiful body is
all-consuming. For others pleasure is
the pursuit of life. Some are
thrill-seekers. They are adrenalin
junkies. Some are world travelers. Others are drug addicts. If you’ve spent much time with an alcoholic,
you know that for the alcoholic life can be reduced to a pursuit of the next
drink.
My point is this: everybody is pursuing something. What are
you pursuing in life? That will in large
part determine what you become and where you wind up.
In Matthew 6 Jesus talked
about the cares of life — all the natural things we can occupy ourselves with
in this life. He said that nobody could
serve two masters. Something will take
priority in a person’s life. He
specifically said, No one can serve two masters...You cannot serve God and
money” (NIV). Matthew 6:33
directs us to , …seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be
added unto you.”
Does this mean we should not try to make money? No. Is our health not important? Of course it is. Should we not enjoy some pleasure during our
journey with God? Absolutely. But for everybody in this room something will be
your central pursuit in life. For you, what is that central pursuit?
Proverbs 4:5-7 gives some good about what we should
seek in life. That which we can hold in
our hands can certainly be taken away.
Friends can turn away and leave us standing alone. Pleasure is good only for a season and then
we are left hungry for more. Christmas
is past and all the things we thought we just had to have are now laying
somewhere as another of our possessions, but our hunger still exists for
more. But wisdom brings a great deal
more to life…meaning, understanding, peace and strength.
Wisdom is not a byproduct of anything. It must be sought on its own and acquired
individually. Circumstances may be a
vehicle for learning wisdom but circumstances do not naturally teach us the
right things. For wisdom we must
discover the source of wisdom…God.
Seek for wisdom today in all of the activities and
relationships of life. At the end of the
day, let God guide your thoughts and see what you have learned.
Scripture to Claim:
A wise man will hear and
increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
Proverbs 1:5
