Want Wisdom? Follow God!
By Daniel Carandang
We all want the best for our lives :)
In school, we want to get the highest grades in all our subjects and be hailed as one of the top students. We also want the best of friends who will be there for us no matter what and share with us the best of jokes and stories. Of course, young as we are, we desire to meet that special someone who has the best qualities. We want a relationship filled with affection and love. When we graduate, we want to be enrolled in the best college so we can bear our school name with pride :)
We don't want good or better. We want the best.
For us to achieve this, we acknowledge the fact that we lack information and that we need guidance. We always follow something or someone. Check the nearest bookstores and see that there are hundreds of self-help books (How To Grow Muscles on Your Face- really?) for self improvements. Popular culture never fails to offer us with people we can look up to and possibly pattern our lives after. We can call this as the Mirror Mentality- what we see, we copy.
Now, ask yourself:
What or who are you following?
You see, what you're following determines where you're headed. Where you're headed determines where you'll end up.
The saying YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE (YOLO) was quite a sensation months ago. For YOLO people, since you only live once, might as well make the best out of it by having fun while it lasts. So they live young, wild and oh so free with beer in hand and parties everywhere.
However, that's not the case. Yeah, you do live only once but it would be such a waste if you invested your life on having worldly fun alone. You only have one life- do it right so that you won't suffer from regrets in the end.
Today's youth, they say, is the most knowledgeable generation. With the technologies existing and the internet informing us of the latest, this is true. However, we should know that there's a big difference between acquiring knowledge and having wisdom. Knowledge is basically information, vital stats, etc. Wisdom is far off from knowledge.
Having wisdom is making godly decisions then applying them immediately :)
So, how does one acquire wisdom?
Fear of the Lord is the fountain of wisdom
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgement
Proverbs 9:10
"Fear the Lord? So for me to get wisdom, I have to be afraid of God?"
The fear written in the verse is not a negative one, implying that your knees should wobble and your stomach should churn because you're deathly scared of God. Nope. It's not the constraining type of fear.
When we say fear the Lord, it basically means respect God. Giving him the utmost respect. When you give God your utmost respect, you willingly acknowledge His word and His way and you OBEY because you respect what He has to say.
Want wisdom? FOLLOW GOD.
Ask God: Is this Your will for my life?
Noah was a man who feared the Lord and because of his utmost respect for the Big Guy, he was able to acquire the wisdom sent from heaven.
It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:7
We're all familiar of the Noah and his Ark. His account is written in the book of Genesis, chapter 6. Noah was given a task that tested his faith in the Lord. He had to build an ark for him and his family and couple of wild animals for the flood. Of course, people made fun of him but Noah turned a deaf ear at their mockery and even attempted to rescue them. He knew that God knew what was best for Him.
So despite the ridicule, he obeyed. And we all know what happened during the Flood.
Why do we have to fear God to acquire His wisdom?
1. God knows and holds the future
Fortune tellers are not strange in the Philippines. We find it amusing whenever they predict our futures by merely rubbing their crystal balls, reading our palms while massaging it at the same time, calling out spirits and all that. Although, there are some who actually believe that these people can predict the future.
Guys, if there's someone who knows the future better than those fortune tellers, it's God!
Remember the things I have done in the past
For I alone am God!
I am God and there is none like Me.
Only I can tell the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.
Isaiah 46:9-10
We have no idea of what lies ahead. No one does. Except God. He's the only One who knows what will happen in the future. He knows our future careers, future spouses, families, etc. He holds our future in our hands and you can be rest assured that the best is yet to come!
2. God loves us and wants the best for us
God loved Noah. He wanted Noah to be rescued from the Flood, which is why he told Noah to built his ark. In holy fear, Noah obeyed his God because he believed that the Lord knew what was best for him and his family.
God wants the best for you! He often sends His insights through the advice we get from our parents, teachers and good friends. His Word is actually the biggest book of dos and don'ts meant for our betterment.
When He says that you should take care of your body because it is a temple of God, He means well. He doesn't want you overeating, which results to becoming obese or eating much of street foods that can harm your health.
God is our Father who wants us to be happy :)
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
God's will is always the best. He's God! His intentions are not created to harm us. They're for our own good. The world has warped our trust in His judgement, leading us to false teachings and convincing us that God wants us to live boring lives. He does not. He just wants to keep us away from things that will deceive us, causing us pain.
He loves us and the proof is what Jesus did on the cross two thousand years ago.
In every decision that we make, trust and acknowledge God. Believe that He knows what He's doing :)
Trust the Lord with all your heart;
Do not depend on your understanding
Seek His will in all you do
And He will show you which path to take
Proverbs 3:5-6
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