"Finding Wisdom"

OBJECT: A stack of books.

Well you guys have been out of school for a while now. What are you doing? Let me ask you a question. How many books have you read this summer? I guess that some of you probably don't plan to spend a lot of time reading and studying during your summer vacation. I remember how it was when I was in school. On the last day of school we were pretty excited. "No more school, no more books.” But it’s important to continue learning even in the summer.

SCRIPTURE: "All who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise. They are like a man who builds his house on solid rock. All who listen to my instructions and ignore them are foolish. They are like a man who builds his house on sand. When the rains come and the storms beat against his house it will fall with a mighty crash.

Matthew 7:24, 26

The Bible teaches us that we should be filled with knowledge and wisdom. Do you know the difference between knowledge and wisdom? I brought a big stack of books from the library this morning. Let us imagine that you could read all of these books this summer and remember everything you read. You would really have a lot of knowledge. Knowledge means we have it up here in our head. Wisdom means we know what to do with it. We can KNOW a lot of things but now know what to do with it.

Some people know a lot about Jesus and what he taught, and they put his teachings into practice in their daily life. Jesus said that those people are very wise. Others know a lot about Jesus and his teachings, but they do not put them into practice in their life. Jesus said they are very foolish. He said they are like a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand. When the storms come, their house goes "splat."

Jesus, we want to know what you taught, but more importantly, we want to have the wisdom to take what you taught and put it into practice. Amen.