This conversation started between a dad and his boy.  It was one of those talks a man has with his son when he’s trying to download what’s important.

You know the talk…

You know your window is closing and you want to make the most of your opportunities.  So, you collect your life experiences into a pile and you sift them for some simple and profound instruction.  You want to give your boy handle bars he can grab onto, some sage advice that will outlast you.  You do this because you want what’s best for your son.  That’s what happened here.  A dad told his son what was important.  He downloaded wisdom.

That’s a hard thing to do, to download wisdom.  It’s hard because wisdom doesn’t come from men.  It comes from God.  So, when a man extends wisdom he’s really offering up that portion of his life experience which has flowed from obedience to a heart that hears God.  But a man can only reach so far.  A man can only point to what’s important.  He can not weave it into the fabric of another, even if that another is his own son. 

Wisdom can sit on a shelf, stagnant and unused, always within arm’s reach, but never in motion.  Stagnant wisdom stinks over time.  It spoils and wafts the stench of cynicism, or worse, superficial religiosity.  In short, wisdom without motion loses its meaning. 

The dad knew this.  He knew his son would need more than just wisdom within reach to navigate the voices surrounding his son’s destiny. 

Years later, the son, now grown and full of years, recalled this conversation he had with his father on that day when he was still tender and open to advice.

“When I was a boy in my father’s house…”

He reflected upon the words of his father, the one known as a man after God’s own heart.  He remembered his dad spoke those words with such urgency, as if everything depended upon them.

“Get wisdom, get understanding…”  his father told him.

Wisdom tells you what’s important, but understanding teaches you what things mean.  Wisdom without motion… is meaningless.

Understanding… is wisdom in motion.

Understanding, however, doesn’t come cheep.  It comes at a price.  Understanding requires that you stand under the revealed mind of God.

It demands as payment that you engage your will in Wisdom’s direction.  It requires that you practice yourself into submission to Wisdom’s voice.  For, a heart that hears God is one thing.  A heart that follows after God is a heart that understand the meaning of things.

Will you submit yourself to Wisdom’s call?  Will you yield to her advice?  Will you pursue Wisdom at all costs?

None is too high  a price to pay to obtain the meaning of things.  Or, as Solomon’s dad told him that fateful day,  “Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”

From:  Proverbs 2, 4  Eccleiastes 1:2

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copyright 2007 Rilian

That’s not news.

We awaken each day to the sound of a thousand voices clamoring for bandwidth in our overly burdened brains.

The voices say they have answers.  Answers in advertisements.  Answers through instant analysis.

With so many voices jostling and elbowing their way to the front of our buy-in, how does a guy navigate all these messages?  There are simply too many parts that spin, too many codes to decipher, too much data to absorb.

That’s why we outsource our perception to the gatekeepers.  Gatekeepers are they who would tell you what’s important and what things mean.

What’s important and what things mean are fundamental to the frame I hang around my decisions.

Mostly, I just want to know, “What does this have to do with me?” 

This is where things get sticky.

If I’m going to rely on someone to tell me what is important, then I need to know that that somebody knows what he’s talking about.  I need to know he can correctly slot the data against my values grid.

And…

… if I’m going to rely upon a voice to tell me what things mean, then I need to be certain the voice belongs to one who is expert in the matters at hand.  In other words, the voice I listen to must belong to someone I can trust, someone who knows me well enough to connect the data to my world in a way that makes sense.

Simple instruction from a trustworthy voice is rare indeed in a world gone goofy.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could dial up a voice that would help us untangle our complicated worlds?

If you think your world is complicated leading a family or running a business, imagine you were saddled with the burden to run a country?  Not just any country, but a nation-chosen-by-God-for-a-divine-destiny kind of country.  How would you know what was important or what things meant?

A few thousand years and a half a world away, a young King named Solomon stepped to the controls of such a kingdom.

Before Solomon’s feet hit the floor in the morning he was in over his head… and he knew it.  Solomon needed help.  One day, God showed up and offered Solomon a solution with a  wish attached.

“Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

If God asked you this question, how would you answer?  I think I might recommend He pay off my mortgage or maybe allow me to eat pasta without impact to my waistline.

Solomon didn’t ask for money or power or influence or fame.  He asked instead that God tell him what was important, and to instruct him in the meaning of things.  Solomon asked for wisdom.  He wanted simple instruction from a Source he could trust.

This same wisdom, this capacity to hear as God hears and to see as God sees, is available to you today.  You can yank it right down into the thick of your own personal chaos.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives graciously to all without finding fault.”

Hmmm…. There’s an idea.  Ask God.  Ask Him for His perspective into your deal.  Then watch Him uncomplicate your world into a conversation with Him.

From:  2 Chronicles 1, James 1:5

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copyright 2007 Rilian