Adventures in Yardwork

I hope you'll enjoy this blast from the past (originally posted in 2008):

An appropriate subtitle for today's post is "Lessons in Stupidity." Some of you will read this post and think, "Oh, no he di'n't," and some will read it and say, "Dude! I wish I'd been there!" Regardless, in light of this story I find it ironic that I've ever posted anything at all about wisdom.

This morning I was string-trimming in some thick weeds behind our storage shed, and I hit one of those tomato vine stabilizing wire thingies. It was pretty rusty, and I leaned down through the weeds and pulled it and one more out of the ground. I threw them down behind me and I started to pray, "Lord, please keep me from stepping on that rusty wire while I work," and then either God or my common sense said, "C’mon… that's dumb, Dean. Move the wire." So I stopped trimming and put it in the trash.

Score one for wisdom! Yeah!

I kept trimming so I could get to this huge weed-berry-tree thing with purple roots and pull it up without stepping on a snake, and in doing so I had to move our old Rubbermaid trash can out of the way. We haven’t used it in forever. It housed a really old tarp, a bunch of soda cans which probably had fermented cola left in them, a bag with dirty diapers, and miscellaneous paper trash.

Oh yeah… and a wasp nest.

As soon as I rolled the trash can away from the shed, the air filled with a dozen or so wasps, which I thought were behind the trash can high on the wall of the shed (lots of good wasp hiding places in a tin roof). I ran to get the wasp spray, but it only lasted for two shots, neither of which felled a bogey. So I ran inside and grabbed some Lysol (TM)-style disinfectant spray. You need to be aware that it will not kill wasps; don’t bother trying. Also be aware that it's not flammable. That was the next step in my strategy -- the tried-and-true lighter-and-aerosol can plan. When the disinfectant wouldn’t ignite, I ran back inside and snagged a can of hairspray. My daughter wanted to help arm me when she found out why I was so excited, so she gave me a can of glitter hairspray, which turned out to be extremely flammable; even more than our boring adult hairspray. I took the glitter hairspray and a lighter and marched back out to the shed.

I got a couple of wasps before I realized that the nest was actually in the blue trash can, not on the wall of the shed. There’s a little circular cap on the top of the trash can lid (you can see it in the photo), and it was missing -- that's where the wasps were going in and out. I figured I'd smoke 'em out, so I sprayed a pretty good bit of glitter into the hole (no flame – that would be dumb), hoping to get a few of them from the fumes, and then I moved on to shoot them out of the air with the lighter.

A few moments later, a wasp landed on the edge of the trash can. It was a "gimme." That sucker was just sitting there waiting to be flamed. So I edged up to the can, flicked the lighter, and depressed the nozzle. Oh, man, was this ever sweet. And then...

BWHOOOOM!!!!

The trash can lid flew high into the air, along with soda cans and a bag of what appeared later to be dirty diapers. I instinctively dove away, thinking, "Were those cans THAT fermented?!" and before that thought was even past my synapses I remembered that I'd sprayed several gallons (or a lot, anyway) of glitter hairspray into the can.

Eyes still wide, I looked at the blackened soft drink cans laying on the ground and the white bag containing a poop diaper, and then I saw the tarp sticking out of the trash can, smoldering and beginning to ignite. I rushed to Hershey the Dog’s pool and picked it up, spilling the water but giving me enough to extinguish the growing flame. Then I poured the rest of the water on the smoldering diaper bag.

As I stood there, thanking God for saving me from a massive amount of foolishness, I looked at the upside-down trash can lid and spied a vacant, slightly-charred wasp nest.

Got 'em!!

All this to say... while I have never done this specific thing before (and most likely will never do it again), the building blocks and lessons were already in place for me to have known just how stupid I was being. How many times have we been given knowledge and wisdom that we ought to be applying but fail to do so because of a little temptation for excitement or fun?

He who disdains instruction despises his own soul,
But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.
- Proverbs 15:32 (NKJV)

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Wisdom or Status?

13 Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. 14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. 16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.

17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person

    than the shouts of a foolish king.
18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war,
    but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

- Ecclesiastes 9:13-18, NLT (emphases mine)
 
Do you find yourself giving more respect to those who have wisdom or to those who have status? Why?
 
Thanks to InterVarsity Press for today's pointed thought.

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string trimmer or loud music?

My yard work yesterday began with string-trimming the grass as my lovely wife mowed. (As an aside, I should note that cheap line in the string trimmer breaks far more easily than the slightly more expensive stuff it's loaded with now.)

I'd trimmed the grass along one side of the house when I realized that the somewhat loud, sustained whirring of the string trimmer probably wasn't going to be beneficial to my hearing. I decided that if my hearing's going to be damaged, I'd rather it be from loud music than a non-entertaining motorized implement droning relentlessly at, I dunno, 800Hz (a wild guess) or so.

So I went inside and grabbed my handy spongy earplugs. They did the trick, saving my hearing so that I could tell you all about it right now. If my hearing is going to be degraded, it isn't worth it to let it be done by a Weedeater (TM).

I remember the first time I told a younger person, "Choose your battles wisely [Grasshopper]." Boy, did I ever feel like I was full of wisdom. I could actually say from experience that some things are worth expending one's time and energy to address. Some things simply aren't. But I've come to realize that I probably wasn't as wise as I'd felt at that moment, because I haven't always done such a good job at choosing my battles when given the opportunity to do so.

I've noted that sometimes the battles I think are important wind up just being senseless arguments. I'll start out with the notion that "This is a very valuable principle that I must express at all costs," but after getting knee-deep in it, I realize that it was not nearly as important than I'd originally thought. At that point it's sometimes wise to step away from the issue rather than continuing to keep it going as a point of stress.

Two questions for you:

1. How do you personally decide which theological "battles" have broad enough implications to undertake?
2. Did you think that my illustration of the string trmmer even remotely tied in to the overall point of choosing one's battles?

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God Speaks in Dreams, in Visions of the Night

A passage my mom used to read to me as a child:

For God speaks again and again,
     though people do not recognize it.
He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night,
     when deep sleep falls on people
     as they lie in their beds.
He whispers in their ears
     and terrifies them with warnings.
He makes them turn from doing wrong;
     he keeps them from pride.
- Job 33:14-17 (NLT)

I just awoke from a dream in which I was having a conversation with my dad when he was 21. We didn't talk about anything particularly weighty; matter of fact, I don't even know what we were talking about. I just had the chance to have a conversation with him before I'd introduced him to things like kids and gray hair.

It dawned on me while I listened that I was almost twice the age of this guy I was talking to, and that I actually was probably wiser than my dad as he was at this point. And then I realized that he would gain some of his wisdom over the upcoming years at the merciless hands of his son.

I saw that he didn't have any wrinkles, and that he still had the spark and the blissful naïveté of youth. Though I've certainly realized it before, I think that it was at that moment -- in my dream -- that I had the big epiphany that most adults probably eventually have: I made my parents' lives into something akin to hell (I somehow saw this in reverse as a teenager). I wanted to give my dad and mom their youth back and say, "Here, you can enjoy it this time around. I'll stay out of the way." But of course, I can't do that.

I wonder if I'm still doing that to anyone -- making their life far more difficult than it ought to be because I'm being self-centered or living my life without the heart of a servant.

"Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions." (1 John 3:18, NLT)

I'm sorry, Dad and Mom. And to the rest of you, I'll do better.

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God Will Make a Way?

"The pastor's not gonna say, 'Go down to Wachovia and get a loan,' but I have heard, 'Even if you have a poor credit rating, God can still bless you — if you put some faith out there [that is, make a big donation to the church], you'll get that house or that car or that apartment.'" - Anthea Butler, expert in Pentecostalism at the University of Rochester in New York

From Leroy (via e-mail) comes this online article from Time: Foreclosures: Did God Want You to Get That Mortgage? This issue directly parallels some of the posts I've made about doing crazy things and then being surprised that God doesn't bail us out. The article doesn't take an angle on the rightness or wrongness of the mortgage bail-out. It reports on the reasoning of a particular religious idea relating to the crisis.

No, I'm not suggesting that any of you have made a dumb decision in purchasing a house! Circumstances sometimes blindside us, and we can find ourselves in positions we didn't anticipate.

What the article speaks of, however, is blind faith in what a person says -- not in the promises and character of God. A situation as huge and nationally-publicized as this makes it easy for us to have a perspective that says of the prosperity gospel, "What craziness!" But if we dig deep, I wonder if would find some vestiges of that in our own lives.

Faith placed in the character and faithfulness of God because of how He has revealed Himself is good, necessary, and difficult (we like to handle things ourselves). However, blind faith, as I believe it should be described, is belief or action based upon wishful thinking and is rooted in the same kind of reasoning that prompts the agnostic to ask the question, "Why would a good God allow...?"

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Adventures in Yardwork

An appropriate subtitle for today's post is "Lessons in Stupidity." I was wondering what to say today, or if I should post anything, and it fell right into my lap. Some of you will read this post and think, "Oh, no he di'n't," and some will read it and say, "Dude! I wish I'd been there!" Regardless, I find it ironic that I've ever posted anything at all about wisdom.

This morning I was string-trimming in some thick weeds behind our storage shed, and I hit one of those wire tomato vine stabilizing wire thingies. It was pretty rusty, and I leaned down through the weeds and pulled it and one more out of the ground. I threw them down behind me and I started to pray, "Lord, please keep me from stepping on that rusty wire while I work," and then either God or my common sense said, "C’mon… that's dumb, Dean. Move the wire." So I stopped trimming and put it in the trash.

Score one for wisdom! Yeah!

I kept trimming so I could get to this huge weed-berry-tree thing with purple roots and pull it up without stepping on a snake, and in doing so I had to move our old Rubbermaid trash can out of the way. We haven’t used it in forever. It housed a really old tarp, a bunch of soda cans which probably had fermented cola left in them, a bag with dirty diapers, and miscellaneous paper trash.

Oh yeah… and a wasp nest.

As soon as I rolled the trash can away from the shed, the air filled with a dozen or so wasps, which I thought were behind the trash can high on the wall of the shed (lots of good wasp hiding places in a tin roof). I ran to get the wasp spray, but it only lasted for two shots, neither of which felled a bogey. So I ran inside and grabbed some Lysol (TM)-style disinfectant spray. You need to be aware that it will not kill wasps; don’t bother trying. Also be aware that it's not flammable. That was the next step in my strategy -- the tried-and-true lighter-and-aerosol can plan. When the disinfectant wouldn’t ignite, I ran back inside and snagged a can of hairspray. My daughter wanted to help arm me when she found out why I was so excited, so she gave me a can of glitter hairspray, which turned out to be extremely flammable; even more than our boring adult hairspray. I took the glitter hairspray and a lighter and marched back out to the shed.

I got a couple of them before I realized that the wasp nest was actually in the blue trash can, not on the wall of the shed. There’s a little circular cap on the top of the trash can lid (you can see it in the photo), and it was missing -- that's where the wasps were going in and out. I figured I'd "smoke them out," so I sprayed a pretty good bit of glitter into the hole (no flame – that would be dumb), hoping to get a few of them from the fumes, and then I moved on to shoot them out of the air with the lighter.

A few moments later, a wasp landed on the edge of the trash can. It was a "gimme." That sucker was just sitting there waiting to be flamed. So I edged up to the can, flicked the lighter, and depressed the nozzle. Oh, man, was this ever sweet. And then...

BWHOOOOM!!!!

The trash can lid flew high into the air, along with soda cans and a bag of what appeared later to be dirty diapers. I instinctively dove away, thinking, "Were those cans THAT fermented?!" and before that thought was through my synapses I remembered that I'd sprayed several gallons (or a lot, anyway) of glitter hairspray into the can.

Eyes still wide, I looked at the blackened soft drink cans laying on the ground and the white bag containing a poop diaper, and then I saw the tarp sticking out of the trash can, smoldering and beginning to ignite. I rushed to Hershey the Dog’s pool and picked it up, spilling the water but giving me enough to extinguish the growing flame. Then I poured the rest of the water on the smoldering diaper bag.

As I stood there, thanking God for saving me from a massive amount of foolishness, I looked at the upside-down trash can lid and spied a vacant, slightly-charred wasp nest.

Got 'em!!

All this to say... while I have never done this specific thing before (and most likely will never do it again), the building blocks and lessons were already in place for me to have known just how stupid I was being. How many times have we been given knowledge and wisdom that we ought to be applying but fail to do so because of a little temptation for excitement or fun?

He who disdains instruction despises his own soul,
But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.
- Proverbs 15:32 (NKJV)

Read more »

Choosing Our Words Wisely

"As the Scriptures say, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.' So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish." (1 Corinthians 1:19-20, NLT)

"Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone." (Colossians 4:5-6, NLT)

"Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you." (Matthew 7:6, NLT)

I think that I've always married these verses in my head (sure, I listed three verses -- but you know what I mean). I don't think of non-believers as pigs, but I do believe that because of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I perceive a lot of things differently from the way a non-believer does. I realize this when I speak to people about their situations and about what God's done in my life. I've found that when I talk to people who aren't Christ-followers, it's fairly infrequent that my natural tendency is to say, "The Bible says..."

Does this mean I'm gun-shy? I don't think so. In spite of the fact that I said I believed it, it took me many years to realize that the Word of God is actually meant to apply directly to my relationship with God and my life and how I relate to people -- the whole lot of it. I've seen that relatively few Christ-followers actually "get it" early in life. So when I speak with a non-believer, I start with the assumption that, while they mean everything to me (apologies if I've just invoked an old Ralph Carmichael song in your head... Here's a link to a slow-loading page devoted to the song, bad MIDI file and all), the Scriptures mean almost nothing substantial to the non-believer.

Is this a safe assumption?

Does such an assumption mean I abandon the Word when I speak with a non-believer? Of course not (The Word of God had better be a part of the fabric of my life). It does mean, though, that I have to be absolutely certain that I'm living out the life with Christ that I claim I espouse -- that "fabric of my life" thing. Otherwise I'm a living example that the Word of God just doesn't work -- that it's essentially worthless.

At times the direct approach is going to be perfect. At times it's going to come off as more of an assault. This is yet another example that being armed with knowledge is not always enough. Our knowledge must continually be used in conjunction with wisdom that God will give (James 1:5). I could probably sit and spout verses and opinions to someone for a very long time, but I may be saying a lot of stuff that the listener doesn't need to hear.

Agree? Disagree?

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"Cynicism" -- Say it Ten Times Fast

"What is the most Christ-like thing that I could do (or not do) in this situation?"

One of the reasons I started this blog was to get Christ-followers to begin to ask this kind of question to themselves regularly. Its answer may or may not fall in line with what you've picked up over the years. A corollary to the non-Scriptural statement "God helps those who help themselves" (see Romans 5:6, not Poor Richard's Almanack) may be the statement, "I will only help those who help themselves." Our response to seeing someone in need, sometimes not in so many words (I don't think we're honest with ourselves sometimes), may be like this:

"He made his own bed, now he should lie in it."
"I would just be enabling him."
"That situation is a direct result of his sin."
"He needs to learn the hard way."
"Nobody helped me when I was in that situation. I had to rely on myself." (Or more pompously, "I had to rely on God.")
"He should have known better."

Each of these statements is the product of selfishness and anger; not wanting to dispense something that we think we've never received.

While our "job" may, from time to time, include helping people to learn to do things for themselves, our primary task as Christ-followers is not to convict people of sin (see John 16:8 for starters) or to leave them in a situation that may be of their own making -- for instance, the traveler in Luke 10:30-37 should probably have taken along traveling companions, but that didn't prevent the Good Samaritan from helping him. Our privilege is to live in obedience to Christ in day-to-day life, to show people that we love them like Christ loves them, and to spread ("preach") the Word.

Obey the simple truths of the Word without over-analyzing them. As we get older, we don't necessarily get wiser -- we can actually begin to use our past experiences and their resulting lessons as crutches.

Never mistake cynicism for widsom.

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Chocolate, Bikinis, and Alcohol

I feel that so many disclaimers are in order before this post, so hopefully this one will summarize: actions always have consequences -- sometimes far-reaching and life-scarring repercussions.

"Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good." (Titus 1:15-16, NLT)

We Christ-followers are messed up sometimes. When we want to justify something we prefer to do, we will hunt down Scriptures or traditions which support our position, claim we're in the right, and move along, still fighting with our consciences. Often we prefer to live in our messed-up fashion, and rather than seeking God, we seek to plug a bit of God into our lives the best way we can, with little or no adjustment on our part.

The thing that brought this to mind is a discussion I had with a friend not long ago about a topic I'd agreed with myself to never post here (an agreement I'm now breaking) -- drinking alcohol.

Whatever your position on this, however you read the Scriptures, I find it interesting that most often (but definitely not all the time) when I've heard the topic debated, Christ-followers are looking for justification for one thing they prefer to do. If we were to take this one action as the definitive, banner issue for how not to sin when following Christ, that would be one thing. However, finding justification or absolution for any single issue is, I believe, to miss the point of our existence.

For the proponent of alcohol consumption: is this beneficial to your walk with Christ? Is it destructive?

For the opponent of alcohol consumption: is another person's action or sin on this issue a stumbling block for you? Or does it just annoy you?

How does this apply to gambling? dancing? I ask this because these three things (drinking, gambling, and dancing) are sometimes off-limits for discussion and are technically off-limits for practice in many church organizations.

How does it apply to other "smaller" things, like driving the speed limit? eating too much chocolate? wearing a bikini? being angry at someone's inconsiderate behavior? Are these things that we rationalize?

My point: if our walk with Christ is in a shambles otherwise, of how much worth is finding justification in the Scriptures for any one action? I daresay it may not even be good for relieving personal guilt (which is often the reason we hunt for rationalization).

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Hair Metal vs. Top 40

See if you can make it all the way through this post. It's a glimpse into my past.

Plans go wrong for lack of advice;
    many advisers bring success.
- Proverbs 15:22 (NLT)

My very first music store boss, Jeff Lindsey, passed away recently at a relatively early age. My sincere condolences and prayers for strength and healing go to his family.

Jeff owned a guitar, keyboard, and drum store in Madison (a town just outside of Huntsville), AL, and wanted to grow his business by selling tapes and CDs. At the time I was one of two teenagers working for him, and I was the music enthusiast out of the two of us. I assume that Jeff didn't know too many teens at the time, because he asked for my advice on what tapes to buy and apparently stocked exactly what I said (along with some of his favorite music).

I was not into "mainstream," Top 40-style music. I loathed it, for the most part, thinking that it was generic and simply manufactured to be hit music. Instead, I enjoyed hard rock (heavy metal, glam metal, or now "hair metal," if you prefer to call it any of those, although I wasn't into the hardcore sub-genre). I always wore a trenchcoat and ripped-up jeans and did my best to fit that mold. I was in the minority.

I loved the music of a band called Black 'n Blue. They were essentially an unknown group. I assume this is because, frankly, they were a rather ugly band -- must not have made for good PR, videos, etc. But that didn't bother me (remind me some time to make a post about the fact that, when I was a kid, I thought all good musicians were "beautiful people"). I loved them. Taking an educated guess as I look back, maybe seven people in the greater Hunstville area had probably ever even heard of them (that'd be my family and a few friends).

So I advised Jeff to stock lots of the upcoming Black 'n Blue album. I told him how great it was going to be, that they were the next big thing, etc. I don't know if I thought it would sell, or if I just wanted to be able to buy it as soon as it came in. Apparently Jeff thought that other music in this genre would also sell well, because he wound up stocking a lot of niche heavy metal albums, along with material by the Gordon Lightfoots of the world and other musical odds (literally) and ends.

Eventually Jeff stopped selling tapes and CDs. For some reason the people just weren't buying.

Had any other teenagers or young adults been consulted on which music to stock (or just one teenager who cared about what was actually popular and sellable), my guess is that that portion of the business would have been at least moderately successful.

I have known a number of Christ-followers who have derailed themselves by taking misunderstandings of Scripture and looking for counsel from friends who were not Christ-followers. I also know people who have been seriously damaged in their walk with Christ because of close relationships with Christians (or "Christians") who did not make it a practice to follow and obey God.

Don't do this.

My dad always told me, "Your best friend should be a Christian." That is so correct on so many levels. Not only are we to seek counsel from Godly people when the time comes, but we are to be Godly, studious people ourselves so that we can offer not only encouragement, but Spirit-filled wisdom and understanding.

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I Am Right

NOTE: the title of today's post is intended to convey a bit of irony. That should come across in the post.

When I started the post "What Makes Famous People Famous?" I was actually intending to take it in a completely different direction, but it took on a life of its own. I'm attempting to give those original ideas another shot here.

In 11th grade I was dating a girl and we had plans to go to the mall one afternoon (woo hoo!). She asked if her friend "Sabrina" could go, too, since she didn't have anything to do that day. Of course, I was thrilled with this idea (...not really. My personality and that of "Sabrina" mixed like oil and water).

So I ironed my shirt and picked them up and we all went to the mall. I was proud of myself that day, feeling pretty mature for having ironed my own shirt. Some time during our gleeful walk around the mall, I mentioned that I'd ironed my shirt myself. "Sabrina," barely able to get this short sentence out without bursting forth in snorts of laughter, exclaimed, "I can tell!! Ha ha ha ha ha..." (etc.)

As it turns out, she wasn't just being mean. I'd missed some wrinkled sections on the back of the shirt.

Most of the time, we think we're right. You think you're right. I think I'm right. Assumption of our own "rightness" on any given issue is usually a plumb line by which we determine someone else's perceived rightness. As a rule, we frame the whole world like this. Assuming that I'd ironed my shirt perfectly led me to think that "Sabrina" was just a total jerk. Maybe there was some "jerk" in her delivery, but she was correct in her implication that I'd done a poor job.

I remember friend and blogger Bill making a post about us praying for someone and asking God to correct them, when all along it might be our perception that is really the thing that needs correction. From that blog: "...praying for things like 'help them see their current path may not fit your plan' or 'Help him/her understand your message'. What if they already understand His message? What if it's ME that doesn't understand?"

I'm not talking about some kind of subjective morality or the non-sensical idea that all roads lead to God. Two plus two doesn't equal five. I'm mainly talking about Christ-followers dealing with other Christ-followers, and some of the subjective things that we have installed in our lives as personal "gospel."

Forgive me for using the NIV here (if necessary), but it stands up well in these two verses: "Jesus answered, 'My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.'" (John 7:16-17, NIV)

If we're looking for correct teaching and knowledge, we must first choose to do God's will. It doesn't end here, but today's post does...

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The Choice to Turn

Sorry, kids, no unusual analogies today, although I'm typing this on a laptop with freshly-replaced hinges, and there are probably two kabillion lessons and stories I could draw from that. The title of the post today isn't even catchy. This is just self-reflection that I'll bet you'll be able to cut-and-paste right into your own life; if not now, at some point in the past or future.

As I ask God for widsom and knowledge in areas over which I've been placed at my church fellowship, I ask Him to remove my preconceived ideas about what songs, programs, ministries, techniques, etc., are effective (actually, "I like the most," may be more appropriate than "are effective"), and ask Him to instead show me what is best.

When I pray that prayer, I'm deeply disturbed by the fact that I can't seem to let go of some remnants of my old attitudes toward other things -- "regular, non-church" things (actually, it's all Church; the Christ-follower carries the "Church" title with him) -- and I wonder how, if I'm not able to set Dean's prejudices aside in those areas, why do I expect to be able to do so in this other area of my life?

There is a balance between beginning again with a blank slate and retaining the wisdom that we've been given by God in life. There are lessons that He's taught us throughout life that we should obviously hold onto and use. However, peppered throughout are reactions and attitudes of our own that are not part of what He's taught us.

As we live life with Christ, it should become pretty apparent which ones are which. As I've mentioned in the past, knowledge and conviction of sin do not equal repentance. Saying, "I know now that I have a problem with such-and-such an attitude (or person or situation)" is fairly worthless if I'm not willing to adjust my life based upon that perspective that God's given me.

The words Moses spoke to Israel thousands of years ago still ring true to the Christ-follower today:

"But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

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Useless Trivia?

Disclaimer: sometimes I just don't feel like my posts are "all up in yo' face" enough to retain interest from beginning to end. You may find this to be one of those posts, but hopefully not. I believe it has valuable content, but it definitely lacks the off-the-wall stuff that I usually do my best to throw in. The subject just didn't seem to lend itself to that.

The first definition of “wisdom” at dictionary.com (pop-up warning if you click on the link) is “the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.” [emphasis mine]

James, speaking to Jewish believers who were going through great difficulty because of their faith, wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5, NKJV)

It’s interesting that God was so pleased with Solomon’s request for knowledge and wisdom in response to the question, “Ask! What shall I give you?” that God gave him not only incredible wisdom and knowledge, but riches, an accumulation of wealth, and honor, as well. (2 Chronicles 1:7-12)

God apparently places a high priority on wisdom. Many people have a good working knowledge of the Scriptures, but putting the Word into practice in life is sometimes a more daunting task than we may realize. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). That's the starting point, but taking the ball and running with it takes something more. We can love God and know lots of Scriptures, but still do goofy things if we lack wisdom.

Wisdom is the bit of stuff in us that happens, for instance, when we see a homeless person asking for food, have pity on him, and want to put the Scriptures into practice by actually helping him instead of hoping that someone else does. If we smell alcohol on his breath, it's probably wiser to actually buy the man some food than to give him money. We have the Scriptures, we have knowledge based on sensory observation, we have the desire to honor God, and we make a wise choice based upon those things.

In many situations I have to ask for wisdom when I know almost all of the facts but struggle with making Godly decisions based upon them. I just don't want to do stupid things, and I've found that a hasty reaction is nearly always the incorrect approach. James told the Jewish believers to "be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." (James 1:19, NLT)

We can have all the knowledge in the world and a caring heart that rivals that of [insert your preferred person of respect here], but if we don't act wisely upon it, all that we have is a bunch of data.

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