For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
If you want to be thought of as wise, listen to all of the advice you receive and allow yourself to be disciplined. There are really two pieces to this. The first part is that if you listen to someone’s advice they will think you are wise because you listened to their advice. The second part is, if you listen to lots of advice, and accept discipline when you make mistakes, you will learn wisdom and actually become wise.
Another aspect of wisdom is remembering that no matter what plans we make it is God’s purpose which determines the outcome. Let us seek as we make our plans to align those plans with God’s purposes.
The psalmist is correct, every good thing I have comes from God. The most profound thing the psalmist says in this psalm is that the godly in the land are the true heroes. We should not consider people heroes because they are star athletes, or movie stars, or famous musicians, or some other sort of entertainers, or some other sort of public figure. All too often such people chase after gods other than the true God. Let us refuse to have anything to do with such gods.
Before Christ we had no choice, we were enslaved to sin. Now, however, we have a choice. We can be united with Christ in His death, and thus be raised to life with Him as well. That means that we have a choice, we can serve sin, or we can serve righteousness. If we choose to obey sin, we will be enslaved by it once more. On the other hand, if we choose to obey God, we are freed to serve righteousness. If we give in to our sinful desires, we will become enslaved once more to sin. On the other hand, the more we do what is right and holy, the harder it will become for us to do anything but what is right and holy. Think about this every time you are tempted to sin…and every time you are tempted to pass up an opportunity to do good.
God asked Solomon a question that each of us must answer. What do we truly want? Some of us want fame, some power, and still others want riches. However, Solomon gave the answer that should be ours if we truly wish to serve God. Solomon asked God to give him the wisdom and knowledge he needed to serve others. We may not be called to rule over others as Solomon was, but it is God’s desire that we serve those around us. So, when we are asked what we want, let us seek for the knowledge and wisdom to serve others.