In a few short days at 11:59 pm, over one billion people
• All across the world will be watching as the “ball” drops in New York City’s Times Square.
• That got me wondering about the history of the New Year’s Eve “ball”
• And what I discovered was intriguing:
• The 1st "time-ball" was installed on top of England’s Royal Observatory in Greenwich in 1833
• After the success of that event, approximately 150 such time-balls were installed around the world.
• But few survive and still work.
• The tradition is carried on today in places like the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC,
• Where a time-ball descends from a flagpole at noon each day –
• And of course, once a year in Times Square, where it marks the stroke of midnight.
• New York actually held a New Years celebration as early as 1904,
• But it wasn’t until 1907 that they “dropped” an iron and wood ball and adorned with a hundred 25-watt light bulbs.
• It was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds
• From that date until today, the ball has dropped every year except 1942 and 1943 during the City’s WWII “dim-outs”.
• Crowds still gathered in Times Square during those years and greeted the New Year with a moment of silence
• Followed by chimes ringing out from One Times Square.
• Over the years, the “time-ball” has undergone about 4 re-designs –
• The most recent one was created for the Millennial celebration in the year 2000 by Waterford Crystal.
• It’s a geodesic sphere, six feet in diameter, and weighing approximately 1,070 pounds.
• It’s covered with a total of 504 crystal triangles that vary in size.
• And each of those triangles has a special designation:
• Hope for Fellowship, Hope for Peace, Hope for Wisdom, Hope for Unity, Hope for Courage, Hope for Healing, etc.
The Name of the ball itself is The Star of Hope
APPLY: Why would they call the New Year’s ball the “Star of Hope?”
• Because each new year IS a time for hope
• It’s a time for opportunity
• It’s a time for each one of us to grasp a hold of our future/ our destiny
Pr 17:24 Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
What we see in this verse is that: we have the opportunity to
• Grab hold of our destiny and future” for this coming New Year.
• The hope for our future depends upon us.
• But that hope doesn’t lie in “wishing upon a star” –
• Which is essentially what those triangles on the Star of Hope actually are all about.
• The “hope” for fellowship, peace, wisdom, courage and so on are not based upon promises,
• But upon a wish for what we’d like to see take place in the next year.
Proverbs 24 is saying that
• The Wise man has a powerful future waiting for him
• Because he keeps his eyes on wisdom.
• By contrast, the fool has his eyes on something else…
• His eyes are on the ends of the earth.
What’s the difference between the two?
• And how can we become like the wise man
• And get the best God wants to give us?
I. Well, let’s take a look at the fool first
• “The fool’s eyes,” says Proverbs “wander to the ends of the earth.”
• This verse interested me – because I can visualize this guy
ILLUS: I remember hearing a story once about a woman who was picking strawberry’s in a strawberry patch
• She would no sooner pick one …
• And then she’d look up and see another strawberry a couple of rows away
• And off she’d run to pick that berry.
• Then she’d look up and see another berry a few plants away and off she’d go,
• Again and again and again all across the patch.
• And by doing this she filled one bucket in the same time a normal person could fill 10
• Her eyes were always wandering across the field looking for the easiest berry’s to find.
This is what the fool is like…
• He’s always looking for the easiest berry in the patch.
• He’s always seeking an easy way to get ahead in his life.
• • He’s the guy who invests in the future by buying lottery tickets
• • He can’t seem to stay married… because no person is ever good enough
• • He can’t keep a job because no job is good enough
• • He can’t stay in one church, because no church is good enough
There is always a rainbow waiting for them over the next hill.
• Their eyes wander constantly to the ends of the earth.
• They are constantly comparing:
Ø themselves
Ø and their families
Ø and their jobs
Ø and their potential
to something else or to someone else
AND THEY ARE NEVER SATISFIED
• Like the woman who hurried from bush to bush in the strawberry patch
• They’re constantly running from every aspect of their lives
• They’re Always hoping that the next ring they grab will be the brass ring.
• And in the end, they have done less with their lives than they could have.
II. By contrast, the wise man has two advantages over the fool
1st he is focused.
Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom (Proverbs 17:24)
The wise man isn’t running all over the place looking for an easy way to live his life.
• He realizes that the only way to acheive success in life
• Is sticking to the task at hand.
• You can’t build a championship team in a day
• A single sales meeting can’t transform a company into a success.
• A weekend marriage or parenting seminar can’t completely heal a struggling family.
• And one sermon can’t set a church right or remove its troubles.
You can’t make a success of life by looking for easy fixes.
• The greatest achievements can only be accomplished with consistent, focused effort.
• And that is what the wise man does…
• He focuses on achieving one central objective.
• The main pursuit of the wise man is Wisdom.
Solomon (who wrote Proverbs)
• Was once asked by God to name the one thing he wanted
• When Solomon asked for wisdom God responded,
1Ki 3:11 So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people and have not asked for a long life or riches for yourself or the death of your enemies— 1Ki 3:12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding mind such as no one else has ever had or ever will have! 1 Kings 3:11-12
Solomon learned from experience that wisdom gained him an advantage in life.
• It gave him an edge.
• And it was that advantage, that edge, that gave him his wealth and power and position.
• Because when we think about it, what’s the purpose of wealth if you don’t know how to spend it?
• What’s the value of power if you don’t know how to use it?
• What’s the use of having a position of influence if you don’t know how to use it?
Too many people believe that if they only had
• Power, wealth, influence, they’d be happy.
• And so they struggle to gain those things…
• But they don’t have the wisdom to know what they already have.
• And so they are never (ever) satisfied with what they have.
“A discerning man keeps wisdom in view” Proverbs 17:24
The 2nd advantage the wise man has over the fool
• Is that he knows where to look for wisdom.
• Where did Solomon get his wisdom?
• He asked God.
Why? Because wisdom comes from God.
James 1:5 says
Jas 1:5 If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.
Now there are other places we can look for knowledge and information,
• Other places we can look for what men value as wisdom.
• And those places may seem to be logical.
• But any other source than God will eventually lead to contradictory advice
• Because it will be based upon man’s experience.
For example, these are examples of men’s wisdom:
• Look before you leap… but he who hesitates is lost
• Many hands make light work… but too many cooks spoil the broth.
• Clothes make the man… but we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
• Nothing ventured, nothing gained… but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
• If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again... but don’t beat a dead horse
• If you lie down with dogs you’ll get up with fleas... but if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
The wisdom of man has its weaknesses
• Because man’s wisdom is always based solely upon what mortal men and women can experience and observe.
• And because of this our experiences will always be limited.
• And our observations will only be able to see so much.
ILLUS: It’s like a man wanting to see as far as he can
• so he climbs a high mountain.
• But no matter how high the mountain…
• he can still only see so far.
• He’ll always be limited by his own eyesight and the edge of the horizon.
But by contrast - the wisdom of God comes from far above.
• There are NO limits to His vision
• There are no boundaries to what He can see.
• He knows the Beginning from the End
In Isaiah 46:10 God tells us: Isa 46:10 Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.
When we look to God for His wisdom in our lives
• We’re not only better off than the fool…
• we’re better off than anyone else
• Because we have an advantage others don’t have.
• We have access to the Wisdom of God in our lives.
And we show that we have the wisdom of God when we DO what He asks us to do.
• Remember Jesus once told the parable about how two men built their homes
• Jesus ended the parable by saying
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does NOT put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” Matthew 7:26
• But, "… everyone who hears these words of mine and PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24
We show that we have gained God’s wisdom when we DO what He asks us to do.
• That’s why it is so important that we keep exposing ourselves to His wisdom (BIBLE)
• In Church
• In Sunday School
• In mid-week Bible studies
• In our personal devotions
The more of God’s wisdom we can get into us…the greater our advantage in this world.
So, here are the ways to ensure a good New Year for 2009
#1 KNOW God’s Wisdom
#2 DO God’s Wisdom
#3 REPEAT
Do this again and again and again – as often as you can.
The key thing to remember is that –
• Both as individual Christians and as a church –
• Is that we have access not only to God’s wisdom but also to His power.
• Our ability to create a great New Year for our lives isn’t limited to what we know
• What we personally can do with our lives.
• God’s power and His working in our lives is the single most important advantage we have.
As one wise man observed
“I place no hope in my strength, nor in my works; but all my confidence is in God my protector, who never abandons those who have put all their hope and thought in Him.” Francois Rabelais
If we hold on to God… to His wisdom and His power…
• Then we will succeed in this coming year.
• And we will be able to grab a hold of everything God wants us to have.
• It may seem that our future may be in doubt at times…
• But in the end it will never really be in question.
