Wise man

As I was doing some research recently on my Family Tree, I discovered that my great, great grandmother’s maiden name was Wiseman.

I chuckled – one of my ongoing prayers and desires is to become a ‘wise man’.

Above all else, I believe that if I had wisdom, and that if all the decisions I make in life could be wise ones, how much better my life would turn out!

It’s been something men have been wanting for centuries – wisdom. The Bible talks about it a lot.

It was the gaining of wisdom that was one of the big attractions of the forbidden fruit that Eve and Adam ate in the Garden of Eden.

King Solomon, whom God gave wisdom to, and who was renowned as a man of wisdom, wrote many proverbs on the subject – ‘wisdom is supreme’, ‘do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you’, ‘wisdom is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare with her’.

He obviously valued wisdom!

Jesus was also known as a wise man, and he told a story about a foolish man who built a house down on the sand. Of course, when the storm hit, this house with no foundation crashed down and was destroyed. He contrasted that with a wise man who built his house on the rock. And when the rain came, and the wind blew – no matter how strong nature’s elements, that wise man’s house stood firm.

Jesus used this illustration to encourage people to take in the teachings he was giving and to apply them to their lives, proposing that when the ‘storms of life’ hit, those who were wise and had followed his advice would stand firm, but those who hadn’t heeded his message would find their lives crashing about them.

I’ve learned in my life, the hard way, that following Jesus is a wise thing to do. Going about life my own way was pretty disastrous, and I had no real foundation to life. That all changed when I started to apply the teachings of Jesus into my life, and I looked to him for wisdom and guidance.

Each day, I’m becoming little by little a wiser man. On my tombstone one day I hope those who know me will put ‘here lies a wise man’. If that happens, I’m sure my great, great grandmother would be pleased to know that the Wiseman name hadn’t disappeared altogether.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington