Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”
Our Bible verse for today: “Doesn’t wisdom call out? Doesn’t Understanding make her voice heard?” Proverbs 8:1 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “God wants to be heard and understood by His people.”
One of the most exciting and promising truths in the Bible is that God wants to be heard and understood by His people. It’s why He gave us the Bible to begin with. “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great an incomprehensible things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3. “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously …” James 1:5
Again in Proverbs 8:1 God makes it clear, this time through the writings of Solomon, that He wants to be heard and understood by people; and that if we will seek to hear Him and learn from Him, He will respond to us.
And beyond just us calling out to Him, Proverbs 8:1 reveals that God calls out to us. He is the One who takes the initiative in this. He is the One who created the Bible and made it available to us. He is the One who established churches and who sends prophets and preachers and writers. He is the One who brings trusted counselors into our lives, and who speaks to us in dreams, or in a small voice in the quietness of our heart. Wisdom calls out to us. God makes His voice heard.
But many people don’t listen. Instead we rush through life at warp speed, so focused on the things of the world that we don’t stop to focus on the things of God. Or we make excuses for not going to church on Sunday and therefore we don’t hear the word God had prepared to speak to us through the lips of the preacher. Or we engage in behaviors that are clearly unbiblical and we choose to ignore Gods’ clear teaching on the subject.
As has been noted in a previous devotional message, wisdom is more than education. It’s more than just knowing things and accumulating knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to take what we know and apply it to the ordinary events of life in such a way that we end up living a truly outstanding life. In terms of Biblical wisdom, it’s more than just the knowledge of what God has said, it’s the practiced ability to apply what God teaches us so that we are living lives that are noticeably holy and righteous.
There is no trick to this. God has made it fairly easy. He has gone to extraordinary lengths to make Himself heard and understood. Wisdom begins with listening and is completed in application. We must listen to God, hear what He says, and then apply it to our lives. Do that and you will discover the truth of what Solomon then wrote in Proverbs 8:10-11:
“Accept my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. For wisdom is better than jewels, and nothing desirable can compare with it.”
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 