Acquiring Wisdom For Dummies

--"Acquiring Wisdom for Dummies"

#4 in walking in wisdom series

OPEN: So for the past several weeks now we've been talking about walking in wisdom. I've kind of camped on this concept for awhile because, well -- it seemed the wise thing to do. It flows out of Eph. 5:15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Last week we looked at using our time wisely. We said that there is something far more important than knowing what time it is -- it is knowing how wisely you are using your time. Today we want to take a little detour and explore "what if I am committed to doing the wise thing, but I don't know what the wise thing is"? What if you're at the point and your saying, "I really do want to do the wise thing -- willing to quit pretending -- willing to quit playing games -- I'm willing to quit deceiving myself -- I'm ready -- and I want to walk in wisdom -- but I really don't know if the decisions that I am making in my relationships -- my job -- my family --my finances, my personal life are really wise. How do I know If I am really walking in wisdom? How do I begin to make wise decisions?"

There are lot of things can cause a kind of a fog in our decision making process when it comes to making wise decisions, isn't there? Our emotions, "I'm in love" or making a purchase "No money down, no payments for 12 months -- you deserve this today!" Our emotions can make making wise decisions very difficult can't they? Negative emotions can make it difficult to make a wise decision. When you are really angry about something -- jealous -- resentful -- bitter over something. Sometime our negative emotions can cause to abandon wisdom and make some very foolish choices. How do make wise decisions whether the emotions are positive or negative? How does a person acquire wisdom? That's what we want to focus on today. -- So I'm going to tell everybody how to acquire wisdom during the next 30 minutes - - this is such a huge topic -- all we can do right now is address some of the fundamentals involved.

At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

This is the question that everyone living on the earth would wish that God had asked them. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have God come to you in a dream and say, "Look, whatever you want, I'll give it to you, just ask."

Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.

Here I am young and inexperienced and You've placed me in as a king.

Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.

In other words, what he is saying is I already have so much, I have all the position, power, & possessions, I have all the honor, I have all the rank, I have all the authority. I have more than a man could ever want. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?

Honestly admit that you don't know: what you pretend to know, what people think you should know.

Now what's going on? He's placed into a situation where he knows that he doesn't know what he needs to know and he's not afraid to confess it. He says Lord, I'm only a child -- I don't know how to carry out my duties. Basically he's saying, "Lord I've got this huge responsibility and quite honestly, I don't know what to do. I feel like a dummy." He's saying, "Lord can you show a dummy like me how to be wise?" Have you been there? Have you been in situations where people are expecting you to have the right answers? -- to come up with the correct path to follow and you haven't got a clue?

Solomon is saying three things: