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A young naval Ensign
had proven his skills to his Captain and was looking forward to the day when he
would successfully take the giant destroyer out of the dock and out into the
open sea. Finally the day arrived and Ensign was enthusiastically and quickly barking
out orders to the crew with a flurry of hurried activities. Another officer
came to the Ensign to give him a radio report from the Captain. The Ensign
thought it was kind of odd to receive a radio report from the Captain when he
could have just come to him personally.
Here was the radio message: “Congratulations to your excellent departure from the dock in record time. You did everything according to proper procedure and in fact you broke a record, but there is one thing I want to bring to your attention, and that is always before you depart make sure the Captain is on board.”
Sometimes our lives are like that. We got the procedures
down, but we forget to make sure our Captain is on board of our life journey.
There are a lot of smart people who have a lot of knowledge, but have a hard
time applying it to their lives. The rate of information today is utterly mind
blowing. Years ago it took five months for Queen Isabella to know of Columbus’s
discoveries and it took two weeks for Europe to know Lincoln had been
assassinated. Not today, with a simple
click we can know something anywhere in the world within seconds.
We have plenty of
information about a lot of things, but what do we do with it? What is knowledge
and what is wisdom? Unfortunately, there is not a direct correlation between
knowledge and wisdom. In our next few blogs we’re going to bridge that gap by
looking at wisdom from our Captain’s perspective in a new blog series called
‘Wise
Up- Everyday Wisdom.’
Webster’s definition of wisdom says ‘wisdom is accumulated philosophic or scientific learning, the ability
to discern inner qualities and relationships.’ We all need wisdom. Wisdom
is meant to be practical, not theoretical. Wisdom
doesn’t mean you know more, but it’s what you do with what you know.
In the Old Testament the Hebrew word for wisdom was used to connote a skill to work, an expertise, experienced. The Apostle Paul commented that the Athenians prided themselves in their deeper Greek philosophy, superior knowledge and wisdom (Greek=Sophia) by saying, “They spend their time doing nothing, but talking and listening to the latest new ideas.” Acts 17:2
Wisdom does not necessarily have anything to do with age. The book of Proverbs tells us that wisdom is learned and grows, but it’s dependent upon our heart’s willingness to grow. If you want to grow and make the wisest decisions in your life then seek God’s wisdom. Peter tells us,
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8
Join us next time as we’ll discover how we can grow in ‘everyday
wisdom.’ You’ll be glad you did and those you know will appreciate it.
Exploring His Wisdom,
Mark
mark@startingoverworkshops.com
