REPOSTToday’s AMI QT Devotional, first posted on June 14, 2015, is provided by Phillip Chen who is associate pastor at Kairos Christian Church in San Diego. Phil is a graduate of University of California, San Diego (BS) and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.).
Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend
1 Kings 4:34 (ESV)
And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
The late pastor Adrian Rogers once told the story of a boy who was sitting under an oak tree, looking at a watermelon patch. He said, “You know, if I were God, I wouldn’t put those great big watermelons on those weak little vines, and those tiny little acorns on that big oak tree. That seems backwards to me.” A little while later, an acorn fell and hit him on the head, and suddenly he was glad it wasn’t a watermelon. How great is God’s wisdom even in this comical situation!
What is wisdom? A lot of people misunderstand knowledge to be wisdom. There is the assumption that your intelligence is correlated with the amount of wisdom you have—that could not be further from the truth. Knowledge is the understanding of a principle or action, but wisdom is the ability to see the importance of a principle and apply it into your life. You could be knowledgeable about many things and still lack wisdom. Many of us operate out of a place of knowledge only. We know what to do and how to do it, but we haven’t grown in the wisdom of applying it to our lives, nor have we grown in the wisdom of understanding the depth and significance of things.
An example of wisdom is having the correct perspective of your life; that is, having an eternal perspective is one of the pillars of wisdom. Knowledge is not enough when it comes to simply knowing the brevity of our life and the importance of the Kingdom of God. Wisdom is what will really transform us into people who will live a life with eternity on our minds. Before we apply the wisdom of investing in heavenly treasures rather than earthly treasures in this lifetime, it is simply a knowledge that produces no fruit. Wisdom is a matured knowledge that will lead to fruitfulness and the blessing of God in our lives.
Many people actually lack wisdom and need to turn to those who have wisdom to share. That was the case when Solomon was king—and it is still the case now. When we see someone with wisdom, our automatic reaction is to latch on to them and ask them to give insight on our lives. But James 1:5 teaches us that none of us need to live without wisdom: If we lack wisdom, we can ask God, who will give it abundantly to us. No longer do we need to go to “kings” who have been gifted with wisdom to receive direction in our own lives. We have received the Holy Spirit, who will give us wisdom in abundance if we simply ask.
When was the last time you asked for wisdom in your life? Is it something that you ask for constantly or only when you have an important decision in your life? As we grow as children of God, let us not only grow in knowledge, but also in wisdom, which we know is a gift from God. Ask God to give you wisdom daily and trust that He will give it to you generously!
Prayer: Father, we trust that You will not withhold wisdom from us if we ask for it. We want to be a people who are characterized by wisdom, just like King Solomon was. We ask for a double portion of wisdom so that we may live our life rightly on this earth. Thank you for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. May we continue to seek Your wisdom in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Genesis 4-5