Pursuing Wisdom In The New Year (Part 1)

Dan C. Bailey

We have had several lessons about pursuing wisdom in the new year. We need to have an understanding of what it means to pursue something. According to Noah Webster, to pursue means "to endeavor to attain to; to strive to reach or gain." To pursue wisdom is to endeavor to learn how God wants men to live. We read in Job 28:28, "And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." In order to pursue wisdom there are some things we should do that will help us to attain that goal.

1. Pray with an upright heart. We read in Proverbs 15:8, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight." And in the same chapter in verse 29, "The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous." If we pray with an upright heart, God will hear our prayers. "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Peter 3:12).

    

2. Maintain a merry heart. Everyone enjoys being around people who are cheerful and optimistic. Maintaining a merry heart gives us a better outlook on life. "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Proverbs 17:22). The commentator Matthew Henry wrote, "A cheerful spirit, under government of wisdom and grace, is a great ornament to religion, puts a further lustre upon the beauty of holiness, and makes men the more capable of doing good" (Vol. III, p.876). As we try to keep a merry heart we find that it is also wise to seek the Lord's help with our burdens. "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalms 5:22).

    

3. Learn how to deal with anger and wrath.God has given us wisdom through His word to guide us in how we should handle anger and wrath. James tells us in James 1:19, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." To pursue wisdom, we need to be slow to wrath as we read Proverbs 14:29, "He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly." If we are confronted with wrath we should turn away wrath. "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.  "(Proverbs 15:1-4).

1. Practice Humility. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, Humility is "a modest or low view of one's own importance." We read in Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Albert Barnes in his commentary on Romans wrote: "There is no sin to which men are more prone than an inordinate self-valuation and pride." Practicing humility is a wise pursuit. "By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life" (Proverbs 22:4).

1. Learn to keep our tongues. The book of James reminds us how difficult the tongue is to control. It is a continual challenge to speak righteously. To pursue wisdom in the use of our tongue brings blessings. "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction" (Proverbs 13:3). And we read in Proverbs 21:23: "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."