The Bible speaks a great deal about seeking wise counsel and teaching your feet to walk upright. The wisdom that we are discussing in this weeks devotional is not the wisdom of this world but rather the instructions of a divine Creator who knows all things. God's wisdom teaches us what it is to be a father or mother to our children. The Bible holds truths that can help you in business, and how to establish right relationships. It contains wisdom on how to avoid destruction in your life. There are examples in the Bible of others who did not fair to well because they ignored the wisdom of God. These are recorded that we might have an advantage over doing or repeating the same things in our lives. So much is within that book that God scripted that can take you to the pinnacle of life and take you into success all your days. There are things that this book of truths reveals, that will enable an angry person to learn how to soften his words and live peacefully with all men. It points to a river of joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. There are endless accounts of wisdom in that Book that affords every person who will go look into it, and act on it: and they will be able to enter into its promises and enjoy its revelatory fruit. However, it will require more than just hearing.

 

James 1:23-25 (KJV)
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

 

The Lord uses the truth to conform our lives by continually confronting us with that very truth from His Word. As God approaches us with His truth, we have two options: either we can accept it, or we can ignore it. If we accept His Word as being truth, we then can fully expect our Father's richest blessings within each of our lives. On the other hand, when we fail to do so, then we have no reason to expect any blessings at all, because we have simply denied the Word of God. This is not the kind of attitude that our Lord Jesus will reward and bless I assure you, and it is certainly not the way to demonstrate a Christlike image to others. Therefore, I want to ask you this question. Will you accept truth or ignore it? Consider the way you most often leave church on Sunday mornings. Will you walk away with the pastor's sermon heavy on your heart and mind, and commit the main points to your memory, while reflecting on those key Scriptures? Or is it more normal for you to simply walk away and let the whole message just slide right out of your mind?

 

Let me point out this very fact that is often over-looked. Even strong and committed believers lose more truth between the sanctuary doors and the Sunday lunch table than they are willing to admit! The revelation of the Lord's message doesn't even begin to make an impact until you give it time to resonate within your own heart and mind. If you are more prone to stop thinking about the sermon as soon as you walk out to the parking lot after the church service is over, then you are not allowing God's Word to work its way deep into your life which can bring a lasting change. Whenever we look into God's Word as though it were a mirror it reveals who we are in Christ. Then we as believers can conclude that we are who He says we are without argument.

 

On the other hand, if this person looks into the Word of God and yet walks away to do life on his own terms than this is the man who forgets what manner of man that he is. When this happens, then there is certain calamity that will not be avoided in that person's life because they will ignore wisdom and what it has to say about the path they are currently on. There are two very different listeners that we can observe from theses Scriptures found in the book of James. There is the passive listener who forgets the Word soon after it is spoken and does nothing with it. These individuals just don't find much interest in seeing that they are important words that deserve their full attention. The second person that can be seen here is the aggressive listener. This person writes down important things as the Holy Spirit reveals them. They are intent on adding these truths to their life so as to experience their benefits. They will act on them because they believe they are extremely important. These are doers of the Word rather than hearers only. They are like these who we find in the book of Acts.

 

Acts 17:10-11 (KJV)
10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 

As you can see these folks took the Word of God serious and they exercised a readiness to put it in their mind. They also studied it to make sure that what they were hearing from the teachers was in fact correct and written in the Word before they would accept it. I wished more believers in our churches would aspire to this kind of approach when it comes to knowing God's Word. If they did I believe the teachers in the pulpits would have to be much more attentive to the Holy Spirit rather than relying on other means of getting their messages. Accountability to know the Word of God must belong to all of us including the ministers. We are not left in the dark about anything pertaining to the will of God.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 (KJV)
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 

Our Scripture here explains the importance of not sleeping when you should be awake. We are instructed to be watchful and completely sober. This is a soberness from all the delusional influences of this evil world. I am simply amazed at just how many believers in Christ will sleep through the instructions of the Lord that could have saved them a lot of heartache. Therefore, too many Christians are making choices with the uncertainty of what the right direction should be. Therefore, they are entering into a massive graveyard of shattered dreams and futures that are completely dashed to pieces because they lacked wisdom in that moment of decision. However, the Scriptures are clear that we who belong to Christ are not in the dark over these things. Then why is it that so many are? It is because they are passive listeners who never act on the truth that has been given them. Let's close with one more passage that comes in the form of one of the Lord's parables found in the gospel of Matthew.

 

Matthew 25:1-13 (KJV)
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. 

When I read this I immediately was taken in memory by the Holy Spirit to Psalms 119:105, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." As I considered the Word of God as being a "lamp" then it brings this parable into perspective regarding some truths that we can extract for our good. These ten virgins represent a purity by which they are being called or termed virgins. Yet, when we get into verse 2, we find something altogether different. Five were wise and five were foolish. If this numerical value has a meaning of something very significant here that deserves our attention, then what our Lord was saying is that in any certain gathering of believers there is half of those that are wise among them. Whereas, the other half of the group are passive and therefore, defined here within light of what we are studying, they are "foolish!" Anytime I find examples of those who God called foolish then I want to study it out to make sure I don't repeat it in my own life. I haven't always done this faithfully and O' how I have suffered the consequences of it.

 

These five wise virgins had taken extra oil besides what they had in their lamps to ensure that they would have enough when the bridegroom would come. Oil on the other hand, is representative of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I can't help but recall how the Scriptures tell us that the Anointing will teach us and lead us into all truth. And again the Holy Spirit brings to my remembrance how it is the letter that kills, but the Spirit gives life. If therefore, the Word of God represents my lamp and I have been careless to neglect its importance in my every day living, then I will not seek or obtain the oil (anointing) that gives it its fuel to light my path with revelation. This oil I believe is not just given out flippantly to everyone equally just because they are pure in Christ. No, this oil is given to those who diligently seek Him and trust their life to His directives each and every day. To not have enough oil in your lamp is to be a person who sees not what is proper or necessary. Therefore, forgetting what manner of person they are in God they return to making their decisions based on human logic.

 

None of us can rely on someone else to give us our oil. We will need to pursue it as a life long desire that we will not ever be satisfied until we have it to full. This is to come into the full stature of Christ in us. I know too many Christian brethren that know the Word to some degree, and yet, they do not have the light of it. If this world is filled with darkness as the Scriptures reveal that it is, then how is it that being a Christian is any different then the lost if there is no light coming from your lamp? The Word is only religious and void of life. The Word (the Lamp of God) does no good unless it is equipped with the necessary oil that fuels it with light. How many have you experienced that held up the Word as a lamp, but it had no apparent light to show the way? These are those who can recite a few passage of Scriptures but they don't necessarily live by them as evident by their fruit. They are all talk, echoing only what they recalled someone else said or taught. The Word (the lamp) in written form has no illuminating power to give light unless it is believed on by faith as being the truth. When this happens, then the Holy Spirit releases the revelation of its truest meaning in that individual who then aggressively pursues how to live in it because it is more precious to them than life itself.

 

I pray that you will begin right now to pursue the oil (the Anointed One, the Teacher) that will power up your lamp (God's Word in you) with a real illuminating brilliance that shows where you are stepping in this dark world. Get to the place where you counsel with the Lord before you just act presumptuously and end up in a mess that you spend years regretting. There is nothing worse than reflecting over and over some act or decision that you made that had negative consequences; especially when you knew better because of what God's Word says you should have done. Ponder the path that your feet are currently taking you towards right this very moment, and be sure that you understand that all your ways are being established by each step you are taking right now. Whose counsel are you listening to; or whose wisdom do you esteem to be wiser, man's or God's? The Lord spoke that we are to, "Take heed what you hear, and take heed how you hear." It could mean a dream fulfilled or a shattered life. What will you ignore today that will cost you more than you want to pay tomorrow? The wisdom of God can help you here, but you will have to be a doer of it, if you want the good success that it promises to give.