Wise Man? Or Just a Wise-Guy?

Like many of you who read this column, I have a long-established habit of reading a chapter from the Book of Proverbs each day. Having followed this practice with a fair degree of faithfulness for over twenty-eight years, I have yet to grow weary of the daily counsel God affords me through that book, especially as it is coupled with whatever else in God’s Word I read each day. Proverbs is written for those of us whose desire is to “know wisdom and instruction” (Cp 1:2).

Who among us doesn’t both need and desire the wisdom that comes from the heart of God? There it is, readily available, literally calling for us to drink deeply from its well (See Cp 8). Recently, however, I was taken with the glaring reality that many people will settle for something far short of wisdom, choosing to be wise guys, rather than wise men. What distinguishes a truly wise person? Keep Reading…

Control

Being out of control can be downright frustrating, especially if you are accustomed to being in control over the significant areas of your life. My wife’s current bout with cancer, her subsequent surgery and the possibility of yet another round of chemotherapy has raised the control issue. In many ways, this experience is a walk in the park of the unknown. Don’t get me wrong. We have a wonderful team of professionals, many of whom are personal friends as well as top professionals in their field. But no matter how we laymen approach it, huge, life altering decisions are sometimes made on the basis of verdicts rendered by people we’ve often never met, sitting in labs we’ve never visited, looking through microscopes we don’t understand. Throw in the ominous sense of urgency, add a dash of trepidation—well, you get the picture. Mr. “In Control” is out of control, and that bothers me. Keep Reading…

Your Resume’

Recently I overheard a man complaining about the difficulties he was having writing a good resume’. I smiled inwardly at that thought. Isn’t a resume’ (or “bio”) simply a statement of the truth about a person? How difficult then could it be to write out one’s resume’? Then it occurred to me that perhaps he was wanting to craft the “truth” in such a fashion that it looked “better than the truth.”

Generally, a resume’ is a record of one’s experience. Sometimes people take jobs merely because they will afford them valuable experience that might later impress a potential employer (or committee). But as a committee of One, God is interested in something more than our experiences in life. He is in the business of developing and assessing our character. What are our experiences teaching us? As King Asa discovered in the sad days of his decline, “The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chr 16: 9). God is not looking for character references but He is constantly looking at your character resume’. What does your character resume’ look like? Keep Reading…