In the meantime

The Difference Between Covering and Covering Up

"Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

If you hang around with church folk very long, you will hear them speak about "covering."  I remember when I first heard this phrase, I assumed they were talking about covering up.  But there is a huge difference between covering and covering up.

There is only one time in the New Testament that the word "cover" is used in that context, and that is in I Peter 4:8 - "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (NIV).  Sometimes this passage is misinterpreted to mean that our love for each other blots out our sin.  Make no mistake: The only love that can cancel out sin is the love of Jesus manifested in his death on the cross.  What Peter is talking about here is the unconditional love and acceptance that should be present in the Body of Christ creating an environment where we feel safe and secure to confess our sins to one another and repent.

James also painted this picture of how the church ought to function in his epistle: "...confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:16, NIV)

Sadly, in most church fellowships that love and acceptance is not present.  This results in an environment where we dare not confess our faults to each other for fear we will become fodder for the gossip mill.  Here's another way to look at it: When we don't have the love covering, we have a cover up.  So we come to the one place on earth where we should be able to be real and we put a mask on and hide what we are feeling, what we are thinking, and what we are struggling with.

There is no doubt in my mind that the epidemic we are currently seeing in moral failures, divorces and scandals among pastors and church leaders has it's roots in the lack of "covering love" present in the church.  In most cases, these Pastors were too proud or too isolated to seek out accountability partners.

For every high profile leader who fails, there are scores of deacons, elders, teachers and others in the church who suffer the same fate out of the spotlight.  This is why the divorce rate is higher in the church than outside the church!  You don't dare come to church and admit you and your spouse are struggling and need prayer, help and support, so you suffer in silence while your marriage and family crumbles around you.

This lack of "covering love" in the church is the spirit of the Pharisees, not that of Jesus!  When Jesus encountered those struggling with sin He responded with compassion and understanding, saying "I don't condemn you." This in spite of the fact that He is the only person who has the right to condemn sinners.  You and I don't have that right.  We are like the Pharisees with rocks in their hands waiting to throw them and the sinful woman; When Jesus reminded them of their own sin, one by one they dropped their stones and walked away, knowing they were every bit as guilty as she.

If your church, Sunday School class, or small group doesn't provide this atmosphere of acceptance, you need to seek out accountability and covering for your life.  Covering up your sin will only result in repeating the same behavior.  So, find a group of people that you can be totally transparent with and hold each other accountable.  I am not exaggerating to say that failure to find accountability in your life can result in at best stagnation and at worst ruin for your spiritual life and your reputation.

Seeking out and taking advantage of an environment where love covers will be one of the hardest, yet most rewarding things you will ever do.  You cannot put a price on a clear conscience, and the knowledge that there are people who know you completely yet love you anyway.  It is in this environment that you can begin to understand the unconditional love that God loves you with.  And you realize that you aren't the "Lone Ranger."  Your brothers and sisters are struggling in the same areas that you are struggling in!

God is Great, God is Good

I suspect many if not most people reading this share this common childhood experience: bowing your head, closing your eyes (maybe peeking a little bit to make sure your brother or sister has their eyes closed), clasping your hands together in front of you and saying, "God is Great, God is Good, let us thank Him for our food..."

The Bible says on many occasions that we need to learn from and become like little children.  Children believe what they are told because they trust the ones who told them.  When our mother, father or grandparent told us that God is great and God is good, we believed it.  No little child ever engaged their parents in a theological discussion about the goodness, the greatness or the fairness of God.

No, it's only when we get older, more sophisticated, and to be gut-level honest, more susceptible to the lies of our adversary that we begin to question how good or great God is.  It's strange that after years and years of seeing and experiencing the faithfulness of God, we still question Him and doubt Him.

God is great, God is good... but if God is good, what about all of those innocent men, women and children who are dying in Darfur?

God is great, God is good... but if God is good, why did He allow my loved one to die?

God is great, God is good... but if God is good, how can He send people to hell?

You know, sometimes, as much as it pains us, we just have to admit we don't have all the answers.  We don't see the whole picture. But God can and does.  And we know that He is working all things together for our good. 

It is in those times that we don't have all of the answers that faith comes into play.  It is then, in the words of Charles Spurgeon, when we cannot trace the hand of God that we have to trust the heart of God. "For I know the plans I have for you," the Lord declares in Jeremiah 29:11, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God is Great.  God is Good.  Let us thank Him.

Mephibosheth

One of the most touching stories in the Old Testament involves King David and a man with the unusual name of Mephibosheth.  Mephibosheth was the grandson of King Saul and the son of Jonathan.  Saul was the King of Israel who lost his anointing from the Lord because of his disobedience at Gilgal.

Jonathan was David's closest and dearest friend. Even when Saul was trying to have David murdered, Jonathan remained faithful to his friend David.  When Saul and Jonathan both perished at Gilboa, David mourned the loss of his friend in the "Song of the Bow" recorded in 2 Samuel 1:

"How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful..."

Mephibosheth was only five years old when his father and grandfather fell to the Philistines.  When word of the slaughter reached the royal estate, everyone fled in panic.  A family nurse who was carrying young Mephibosheth tripped and fell to the ground, breaking both of the child's feet.  This left him crippled for life, unable to walk.

Years later when David had defeated all of Israel's enemies, he sought to find one of Jonathan's family so he could show them kindness out of love and respect for his beloved friend.  David was told Jonathan's son Mephibosheth was still alive but was crippled.

David sent for Mephibosheth, who trembled before the king. "Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table."

From that day forward Mephibosheth and his family came into David's house and ate at the king's table like one of the king's sons.

Mephibosheth had done nothing to deserve David's kindness.  Yet he was adopted into the king's family.  In the same way, you and I have done nothing to deserve God's kindness, yet we have been adopted into the King's family.

The Bible says to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).  Ask God today to lay on your heart someone to whom you can show kindness for Jesus' sake.

Lord, we thank You for the gift of Your grace, freely given to us, even though we have done nothing to earn or deserve it.  Help us today to show kindness and mercy to those we come in contact with.  Help us to forgive as we have been forgiven.  Help us to love as we are loved.

The Joy of the Lord is My Strength

Sometimes we in the church are accused of glossing over the fact that life can be hard.  We sometimes tend to give the impression that all you need to do is give your heart to Jesus and all of your problems will be solved, all your bills will be paid, you will have success and prosperity and everything you touch will turn to gold.  If you are a Christian, you will have a continual smile on your face and always be happy.  We make all our baskets, we sink all our putts, we close all our deals.

Does that sound like your testimony?  I know it doesn't sound like mine! 

The problem is that we've confused joy with happiness.  Happiness is dependent on happenings.  Circumstances in your life dictate whether or not you are happy.  Joy, on the other hand, is a gift from God - a fruit of the Spirit that transcends whatever is happening in your life.  Joy allows you to rise —even to soar— above difficult circumstances, challenges, and heartaches.  Joy comes from knowing Who is in control and that He has a plan to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)  We do not draw our strength from the great feeling we get when things go right; if we did, we would be powerless when hard times and adversity hit, and we would all be easy pickings for the devil.  No, it is the joy of the Lord that is our strength! 

Jesus wasn't happy about going to the cross.  He prayed the night before "If there is any other way, let this cup pass from me..."  But He did have joy in obedience.  The writer to the Hebrews put it this way: "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..."  There was joy for the Lord Jesus even in the pain and the agony of the cross because He knew the end result of His obedience and sacrifice would be the offer of salvation for you and me.  Jesus chose to go through hell for us rather than to go to heaven without us.

In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul talks about joy over and over again.  Yet he wrote that letter to the church at Philippi while he was imprisoned in horrible conditions.  How could he write about joy while imprisoned in a dark, cold, rat-infested Roman cell?  It's because joy is not dependent on circumstances!

When you and I face tough times, we can draw on great reserves of joy that are rooted in our knowledge of the faithfulness of God.  That's how Job was able to say in the midst of tragedy, heartache and great loss, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15, KJV) He knew God and He trusted God.  That is how he could have "joy in unrelenting pain" (Job 6:10, NIV)

Job's friends made the mistake of misjudging Job. But what was worse, they misrepresented God.  They presumed to speak for God in telling Job he needed to repent.  Job's friends naturally assumed that since things weren't going great for Job, he wasn't living right, and God was punishing him for his sins.  I'm afraid the spirit of Job's friends is still very much with us.  We see and hear it just about every Sunday.

Now, don't get me wrong here— I've spent most of my life in church.  Since I was a teenager I have either worked for a church or worked with organizations that worked with churches.  I love the church.  I love church people.  But let's be honest—sometimes we have a problem keeping it real.  We look at each other and smile real big and say, "I'm fine!  We're all fine! How about you?  Are you fine?" while inside we're hurting.  The problem is if I admit to you that I am hurting or struggling, you might assume that I'm not spiritual enough.  To avoid that I just pretend that  everything is fine, when it really isn't.

If there is any place on earth that you should be able to keep it real, it ought to be the church.  God's Word tells us to confess our faults to each other so we may be healed. (James 5:16) But you can't confess your faults if you are afraid to let me know that you have any!  In the church we, like Job's friends, have bought into the notion that "spiritual" Christians don't have any problems.

But if you think about it for a minute I believe you will agree with me that the most spiritual people I have ever known were those who had walked through deep dark valleys of sorrow and heartache yet through it all their faith and trust never wavered.  It wasn't the smiley-faced folks pretending to be perfect who touched my heart, it was those who I saw pressed on every side but not crushed, cast down but not destroyed.  It was in those people that I saw that indeed the joy of the Lord is our strength.  I want to be one of those people!

Lord, help me to draw my strength from your gift of joy and not from my feelings or from my present circumstances!

When God Says No

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."  Matthew 26:36-39 (NIV)

I have two children whom I love dearly. I would do almost anything for them.  I know in my heart that if needed I would lay my life on the line to protect them.  Yet over the years, there have been numerous times that I have said no to their requests.

In most of those cases, they were asking for something that I knew was ultimately not good for them.  Sometimes it broke my heart to say no to them. But as their father I knew what was best for them in the larger scheme of things.

We have a phrase for children who are given everything that they ask for... spoiled brats.

You've met them, I know.  They are obnoxious and arrogant, and not grateful for anything because they had everything handed to them on a silver platter. I'm sure that you also know some of the adult manifestations of that kind of irresponsible parenting.  Those obnoxious and arrogant children became obnoxious and arrogant adults who expected the world to continue to cater to their every whim just like Mommy and Daddy did.

So it is with God.  God knows our needs, and He also sees the "big picture" that you and I cannot see from our limited finite human perspective.  Just as we know when to say no to our children whom we love, God knows when to say no to us.

Now I realize there is a school of thought in the Body of Christ today that holds to the opinion that when we pray in faith, that God always answers in the affirmative.  Some of those who hold to this belief are good friends of mine. Some of them are people who I greatly respect.  But I respectfully differ with them in this area. 

Looking back on my life, I can tell you time after time after time when I earnestly prayed for a certain outcome that now, with the blessing of hindsight I realize was not best for me.  There was a ministry position that I was absolutely convinced God was leading me to.  When God closed that door  - actually "slammed" would be a better description - I was heartbroken and dejected.  Months later I found out that the position I thought was so ideal was actually a horrible situation where there was serious sin in the camp.  Had God given me what I begged Him for in that instance, I would have been in the middle of a colossal mess.

I am certain that if you reflect back on your life, you can relate similar circumstances in your life. Maybe it was a boyfriend or girlfriend that you just knew they were "The One" but after God closed that door you realized in hindsight they weren't.  Maybe it was a house or some other material possession that you asked God for and after He said no you realized that once again He knew best.

We once just knew that God had led us to a certain house.  We even walked around it and prayed, thanking God for leading us to this house and laying claim to it in the spiritual realm.  Two days later the house got sold out from under us.  Again, we were dejected and felt like God ignored us.  He didn't ignore us... He just said no.  Just three months later God clearly opened the door for us to follow Him in obedience to another area of ministry in another state.  If we had bought the house we had our hearts set on, we would have been entangled in that and it would have been difficult to go where God was sending us.  God knew that, so He said no.

I believe that every word of the Bible is there for a reason. I am convinced that God gave us a glimpse into the heart of Jesus when He prayed in the Garden just before his suffering and death for us. His prayer in the garden is a model prayer for you and me.  Basically, in that prayer Jesus told His Father, "Here's what I want, but above all, I want what You want. I want Your will to be done."

There have been many times in my life that God answered our prayers in an unmistakable way.  I am so thankful for those times, for they have strengthened my faith.  But I am equally thankful for the times when God said no. 

Because my Father knows best.

Free to Love Like Jesus

In the day in which we live, it takes a lot to shock us.  We see so much sorrow, death and destruction each night on the news that after a while we become desensitized to it.

But last night, I saw something that shocked, sickened and saddened me.  Maybe you saw it, too.

A 49 year old woman named Esmin Green was admitted to the emergency room of King's County Hospital Center in New York for psychiatric evaluation, and she was left in the waiting room for over 24 hours.  At 5:32 am, the security camera shows her collapsing on the floor.  For the next 30 minutes, Ms. Green lay on the floor convulsing, moving and at one point appearing to try to get up. Hospital workers and employees came in, looked at the woman and then left.  One even appeared to be looking at the television while completely ignoring the stricken woman.  She stopped moving at 6:07 am.

One hour and three minutes after she collapsed, a hospital worker came into the room and nudged Ms. Green with her foot.  When she got no response, the worker waited a few minutes more and then summonded help.  But it was too late.  Esmin Green was dead.

How could someone collapse in a hospital's waiting room and lay there for an hour until she died?  How could hospital workers and perhaps other people waiting for treatment in the waiting room ignore someone who was obviously in need of help?  How could people be so uncaring and heartless toward another human being?

Today we heard that six workers at King's County have been fired for their failure to help Ms. Green and for their attempts to cover it up. Obviously, they should have been.  But as I thought about this story during the day today, I can't help but think that to one extent or another, you and I are in some ways as guilty of neglect as those hospital workers.

Now to be sure, if someone collapsed in the hall outside my office or in the parking deck as I was walking to my car, I would no doubt act decisively to assist them and to summon help.  I am sure you would do the same.  But how many times recently have I crossed paths with someone who was in great need spiritually or emotionally and I ignored them just as those hospital workers ignored Esmin Green?

Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to expose the racism and elitism of the Pharisees. He also wanted to point out their lack of compassion for those in need.  You remember the story... a man is attacked, beat up, and left for dead.  Several religious leaders pass by the injured man before a Samaritan - a group of people hated by the Jews - stopped to help. 

In those moments when we are being really honest with ourselves and with God, we know in our hearts that left to our own devices we tend to be like the Pharisees.  It is when we are being like Jesus that we reach out in love and compassion to help and to share the gospel with all we come in contact with.  Our culture teaches us to withdraw from and distrust those who we don't know and those who are not like us.  Jesus has set us free to love like He loves.

And He reminds us that when we touch the least of these we are touching Him.  When we refuse them, we are refusing Him.

Lord, make me sensitive to the needs, the cares, the concerns, the hurts, and the spiritual condition of those that I come in contact with today!

Real Success

One of my favorite movies of all time is a picture called "Mr Holland's Opus."  It's a good movie in and of itself, but I will always have a soft spot for this movie because when I saw it for the first time in the theater, it delivered a powerful message to my heart that I really needed to hear.

"Mr Holland's Opus" is sort of a modern version of "It's a Wonderful Life." In the film, Mr. Holland (played by Richard Dreyfus) is a musician with dreams of making it big as a composer.  To make ends meet and to put food on the table, he takes a job as a music teacher in a school.  He enjoys interacting with the students and teaching them music, but he still dreams of success, fame and adulation as a composer.  He tells his wife he will just teach for a year or so to get them back on their feet financially.  That one year turns into two, those two years into ten, those ten years into twenty, and before you know it, it is time for him to retire.

As he reaches the end of his teaching career, Mr. Holland is dejected and feels like a total failure.  He has wasted his life teaching school and never made it big.  He cleans out his desk and heads home for the last time. One of his fellow teachers uses some excuse to get him to come into the school's auditorium and he is shocked by what he finds.  The auditorium is filled with thousands of his former students, all of whom have come to let Mr. Holland know how much he affected their lives.  Each one of the students has a story to tell how they were touched, inspired, motivated, challenged, or encouraged by this man who was much, much more than just a music teacher to them.

Mr. Holland looked around the room and realized that he was not a failure.  He saw all these people who had been impacted by his life and he realized that while he didn't make it big in the way he wanted to, there was no way around the fact that he had been a success in his career.

If we are not careful, we can buy into the world's definition of success and that becomes the yardstick by which we measure our lives.  But that is not the measure that God uses!  He is much more concerned with how you lived your life than the stuff that you accumulate.  He is more interested in how many people you are bringing to heaven with you than with the size of your 401K.  He is more impressed by the people you invest your time, effort and love into, than your investmen portfolio.  It is those things that are eternal that touch the heart of God.

When I was a little boy, my father gave me a little fold-out placard for my birthday.  It still sits on my desk in my study as a reminder of what real success is.  That placard simply says,

"Only one life will soon be past; Only what's done for Christ will last."

Do you sometimes feel like a failure in the world's eyes?  If so, think about the lives that you have touched, and think about the heavenly version of Mr. Holland's surprise party in the school auditorium!  Think about all of the people whose lives you have touched by acts of kindness, or service.  Think about those who you have shared Christ with who will be in heaven because of you.  Imagine all of those people gathered together in heaven to welcome you home and to thank you for touching their lives.

And then hear the voice of Jesus saying, "My child, look around you, for great is your reward..."

The Love of A Father

One of the most beautiful stories in the Bible we know as the parable of the Prodigal Son.  At a point earlier in the history of the church it was called the parable of the Lost Son.  To be honest, I think both of those titles miss the point of the whole story.  The story at it's core isn't about the mistakes of the son.  It is about the amazing love of a father. I'm not sure why those who attached a title to this story over the years chose to concentrate on the son who left, especially since Jesus begins the story by saying, "A certain man had two sons..."

You probably know the story well. The younger of the two sons tells his father to give him his inheritance.  He soon takes off for a distant country - probably the Middle East's equivalent of Las Vegas - and squanders all of his money on wild living.  As soon as the money runs out, so do all of those who he thought were his friends.  Eventually he finds himself in the worst possible job a young jewish man could stoop to do - feeding pigs.  He was so bad off that he wanted to eat the slop that he was feeding to the pigs.

The Bible says the young man came to his senses and realized that his father's servants lived much better than he was currently living.  He decided to go beg his father to let him be one of his servants.  As he made the long journey home, no doubt he rehearsed over and over in his mind what he would say to his Father... "I have sinned against heaven and against you...I am no longer worthy to be called your son... make me one of your hired servants."

Then there are two things in the story that are nothing short of amazing.  First, we are told that the Father sees him coming while he is still a long way off.  That means the Father was looking for him...staring down that road, hoping against hope to see his son come down that road returning home.  The second amazing thing is that when the Father realized it was indeed his son coming home he ran to him and threw his arms around him, hugging and kissing his son.

The son was probably stunned.  This wasn't the chilly reception he anticipated.  He blurted out the speech he had been rehearsing: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants."  The father probably didn't even hear the speech.  He was busy gleefully telling his servants what  to do now: "Bring the best robe you have and put it on him!  Put a ring on his finger! Prepare a party!  My son has come home!"

This is not a story about the wayward son who left home and squandered all his money.  Nor is it a story about the son who stayed home but did not share his father's joy over the brother who came home.  No, this a story about an amazing father who loved his son unconditionally.  A father who never stopped loving his son even when his actions hurt him deeply.  A father who never stopped believing his son would eventually come home.  A father who was looking down the road watching for his son.  A father who ran to his son, rejoicing that he had returned to him.

I was blessed to have an earthly father like that. So much of who I am today I owe to my father, who is now in heaven.  I long more than anything to be that kind of father to my son and my daughter.  I long to pass on that legacy of love, support, encouragement and faith to them and to their children.  I hope you had a father like that, too.

But maybe you didn't.  Maybe your earthly father was cold, distant, maybe even abusive.  If so, I have good news for you.

At the end of the day, this story isn't about a man and his two sons. It is about your Heavenly Father.  Jesus told this story to illustrate to us that we all have a Heavenly Father who, like the father in the parable, loves us unconditionally. Whenever we stray from Him, He is waiting, longing, believing that we will come back home to Him.  When we do, He is that Father who runs to us, showers us with His love, and restores us.  He gives us what we don't deserve and He celebrates the fact that the prodigal has come home.

Happy Father's Day!

Angels Unaware

"You're an angel!"

Have you ever had someone say this to you?  Have you ever said this to someone because they showed you great kindness or helped you out when really needed it? 

There is a popular misconception in the world about angels.  Many believe that when someone dies and goes to heaven, they become an angel.  Dozens of movie plots - like Frank Capra's classic "It's a Wonderful Life" - feature someone trying to "earn their wings" and become a full-fledged angel. Invariably, these people are described in the movie as having been human and now they are trying to become an angel.  That idea makes for touching stories, but they are way off base according to God's word.

The Bible teaches that angels are created beings, and that when God made us, He made us "a little lower than the angels."  We are told that angels are "ministering spirits" and God's word is full of examples of angels delivering messages for God or otherwise acting on God's behalf.  Angels announced the birth of Jesus and were the first to tell the news of the Resurrection.  People don't become angels when they go to heaven, but sometimes, angels apparently do pose as people.

One of the most interesting passages of scripture concerning angels is found in Hebrews 13:2 - "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."  It is clear from this passage that sometimes God sends angels "undercover," if you will, and they interact with people without their knowing.

Makes you wonder... have I ever interacted with an angel?

There was an instance in my family's life recently where the persons involved could easily have been "angels unaware."  A little over a week ago, I put my daughter on a plane bound for Swaziland.  She flew from Atlanta to Amsterdam - where she had a three hour layover - and then from Amsterdam to Johannesburg.  She was to have a nine hour layover in Johannesburg, but she figured she would just take a nap there.  When she arrived in Johannesburg, she was told the airport would be closing at midnight and that she could not stay in the airport.

There is very little that strikes fear in the heart of a father more than to get a call from your baby girl - who is 6,000 miles away from you at the moment - and she is in tears and saying she doesn't feel safe.  I have never felt more helpless in my life.  The only thing I could do is pray that God would protect her and send her help.

Over the next several hours, God sent a succession of people to her - just at the right time - who helped her get safely to the lobby of a nearby hotel and then to keep her company and even provide for her physical needs by making hot chocolate for her.

Certainly it is unlikely that those people were angels.  It is far more likely that God moved in those people's hearts to help a young lady who was in a strange place, and was tired and scared.  But isn't it great to know that God will summon the needed resources - human or angelic - in response to the prayers of His people?

Psalm 91 says, "If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go."

Getting Wisdom

The Bible speaks very plainly to us about the importance of having wisdom.  You know why?  Because wisdom is what puts all of the puzzle pieces of our lives together in the proper order.  The pieces labeled "knowledge" and "experience" and "situations" all fit together in the proper place and in the proper order when wisdom arranges the pieces.

But where do we get wisdom?  We can't go down to our local Christian book store and buy a pound of wisdom.  We can't go next door a borrow a cup of it from our neighbor.  There are three ways that the Bible tells us we can acquire wisdom:

By Association — While you can't gain wisdom by osmosis, it is a fact that if you hang around with wise people, you will pick up wisdom from them.  Proverbs 13:20 says, "He who walks with the wise grows wise."  It doesn't happen overnight - that's why that verse says "grows wise" not "is immediately wise."  As you surround yourself with people who possess and utilize godly wisdom and discernment, you will find those qualities showing up in your life and being reflected in your choices.  But beware of the inverse of this principle, which would go something like this: He who walks with the idiots becomes an idiot.  The last part of that verse concludes with "...but a companion of fools suffers harm."  The gist of that verse is clear: You become like the folks you hang out with.

By Absorption - You can gain wisdom by the things you read, listen to and watch.  It goes without saying that you will gain wisdom as you study and immerse yourself in God's word.  But what about the other things that you allow into your life?  Are they helping you learn and grow in your understanding of God, of God's principles and of God's plan? In these days of the Internet, the accumulated wisdom of great writers, thinkers and saints of the ages are but a click away.  But it is on the inverse of this principle that many have shipwrecked their lives, because unholy, unwholesome, and ungodly influences are likewise only a click of the remote or the mouse away.  Psalm 101:3 says, "I will set before my eyes no vile thing."

By Appropriation - The final method of acquiring wisdom is so simple that if we are not careful we will overlook it:  Ask for it.  The Bible tells us that we have not because we ask not.  And in the book of James we are told plainly that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God for it and He will give it to us.  The inverse of this principle is too often true... if we don't ask for it, we won't get it.

We are told to seek first the things of God and then all of these things will be added to us.  This is particularly true of wisdom.  When we seek wisdom by asking God for it, reading and studying about it, and surrounding ourselves with others who possess it, we will acquire a key that opens the door to a lifetime of wise choices, blessings, and prosperity in our lives and in the lives of those around us.