The Wisdom Found In This Old Book Series

THE WISDOM FOUND IN THIS OLD BOOK

Ford paid the bill. Auto maker Henry Ford asked electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn’t find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life-but Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker inquired why the bill was so big Steinmetz’s reply: For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Ford paid the bill.

* Wisdom. Steinmetz created that generator, so he possessed the greatest wisdom on how to fix it and run it. Don’t you reckon that God is the greatest source of wisdom since He created life and all things?

1. THE SOURCE OF WISDOM.

In my life, I’ve come to the place of not having a clue what my next step was quite often. Many years ago, I started putting this verse into practice in my life. I would like to say I’ve always done this, but that wouldn’t be true and the times I didn’t often caused me pain/grief... and some emergency room visits. This verse tells us the source!

Jam 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

We are finite creatures with a limited supply of personal knowledge and wisdom. God in infinite. He created all things and as Creator, He knows the perfect answer to any problem we might experience.

** Prayer made Abraham Lincoln the man he was. He said on more than one occasion, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient for the day.”

* Godly wisdom cannot be learned in a University. It can only come to a heart in right relationship with God, and seeking it.

Socrates- The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

Like Lincoln, we should pray for God’s wisdom because our own wisdom and that of those around us is sometimes insufficient. Our wisest moments are the times when we realize how little wisdom we have and we choose to seek the wisdom of the God of all Creation.

2. WHERE TO FIND WISDOM.

What is secret to living a successful life? By making Right decisions.

How do you make right decisions? By Experience.

How do you get experience? By making Wrong Decisions.

* A wise man learns from his bad mistakes. A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others. But, imo, the wisest of men learn from the wisdom found in THIS OLD BOOK.

King David had this to say about wisdom..

And he found wisdom in THIS OLD BOOK.

Ps 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The times that David was closest to God and studied and obeyed His Word, he was very successful and blessed. The times he disobeyed God and followed the lust of his heart, it cost him his health, it cost him his family, and cost him much grief and suffering because of his great sins concerning adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah.

* His son, Solomon, learned from his father David’s life. And, he had this to say in the Book of Proverbs. He hoped to offer wisdom to all.

Prov 1:1-7 1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding, 3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity; 4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion, 5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

* notice the goal of Book of Proverbs is to impart wisdom for living good life.

Chap 1- Warns us of the calamities of foolish decisions.

Chap 2- Reveals the security comes with wise decisions.

Chap 3- Tells of the rewards of wisdom.

Chap 5-7 - tells of the pitfalls of immorality.

Chap 10-18- reveals the differences between the wise and the wicked

* And throughout the book, are words of instruction and warning covering many aspects of life and behavior.

** Notice vs 7, that the worst foolish mistake is to reject God, to break His laws, and to ignore His wisdom.