Putting the I into WISDOM
The Christians who have most influenced me for good have had a fully functional familiarity with the book of Proverbs. They were (and are) able to take their considerable knowledge and apply it to their lives, providing both godly examples and godly advice. Join with me as each of us endeavors to put the I into WISDOM. Let us seek to exemplify God’s wisdom in our daily lives. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Our words can do great good or horrible harm, and a perspicacious person is thus careful and cogitative in communicating. Our speech, though, cannot have full impact unless accompanied by deeds. Words simply cannot replace actions. Proverbs 14:23 says, “In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury [poverty].” If we have to choose between more labor or more language, work wins out over words. One commentator from the 1800’s wrote, “Loud talkers are lazy workers.” Perhaps there are exceptions (auctioneers, for example), but volume in verbalization decreases volume in production of goods and services. James 1:22 makes it clear that the larger issue is not economic but spiritual: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” As always, our greatest example is God the Son, Jesus Christ. He came as the Word (John 1:1, 14), spoke “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68), and then fulfilled these words in His crucifixion and resurrection. Good words alone are certainly better than bad ones or none at all, but good words and good acts joined together are powerful for good – God’s intended good to others.