The Happiness in Wisdom
Today’s Verse:
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. ~Proverbs 3:13
Proverbs 3 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible for successful Christian living. It is a chapter that is punctuated three times with the personal admonition of “my son.” Solomon greatly desired his son to have a God-centered life. He was concerned that his son did not share the same passion and love for God and God’s Word as he did. He was very concerned that his son’s friends were taking his heart from God. In this chapter, Solomon is instructing his son that there is true happiness to the man who finds wisdom and keeps it. This morning, we want to see the happiness that is contained in a life filled and being lived out in wisdom.
There must be a complete deposit.
This complete deposit involves total faith and trust in the Lord in all things. It’s hard to trust in God when you are blinded by materialism and the good things of this world. However, Solomon knew that no believer can truly be happy until he learns to trust in God with all his heart and lean not unto his own understanding. God must be acknowledged in all of our ways. This includes in our choices, our relationships, our service, our finances, and our trials. We must learn to honor the Lord through our tithes and offerings, and we must discover how God takes care of us when we are obedient with the tithe.
There must be a careful discernment.
Solomon admonished his son to not despise the chastening of the Lord. Chastening is when God uses difficulties, suffering, or trials to show us that there are areas in our life that need correction. When we have been careless in our walk with God or have unconfessed sin in our life, God will chasten us to wake us up. Solomon reminded his son that whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. Chastening brings us to our senses and leads us to seek restoration of our fellowship with God. Be careful that you do not get angry and bitter with God when He sends chastening into your life.
There must be a consecrated devotion.
Solomon exhorts us to give our entire devotion to a life of wisdom. When we do so, we sleep better at night. When we do so, sudden interruptions or changes in circumstances do not move us. When we are given to a consecrated devotion, our confidence in the Lord’s help in our life gives us the power to keep going. Our devotion carries over to being helpful when others around us have a need. We are moved to share and give to the need of someone who has a critical need. Our devotion to living with wisdom keeps us from having strife and conflict with others. We are removed from typical insecurities and abstain from envying the success of those who are adversarial to us.
We learn that God deals with those who are wicked and disobedient. He balances things out in His time and in His way. In summary, true happiness is seeking to make the obtaining and living out of wisdom our goal. This wisdom is making a God-centered life our highest priority.
Are you ready to trust God for everything in your life? Are you ready to see His chastening as a necessity in your life when you are not in the path God desires for you? If life has been filled with turmoil, today would be a good opportunity to make the procuring of wisdom your best decision.
Have a wisdom-filled God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Luke 19-20