First of all, “Happy New Year!” May the Lord bless all
of us with 2020 spiritual vision as we seek to grow in Him this year.
Before we begin, I have a few quick comments to better
explain how we will proceed in our devotions this year. It will be immediately
obvious that our layout is very different this year. Last year we were telling
a story, the greatest story ever told. We slowly worked our way through Jesus’
life using supporting scriptures to help us better understand Messiah and all
that He means for the entire world. I thought that it would be better to
approach the wisdom literature thematically. So, don’t be surprised if we jump
around a lot. Therefore, all the verses to read for each day will be provided
in your email. You won’t have to click a link.
We’ll get to everything eventually, but not
necessarily in the order that it appears in Scripture, because a lot of proverbs
seem to be written down in a random way, with one verse on a very different
topic from the ones before or after. Secondly, for depth, I thought that it
would be helpful to tack on supporting verses throughout scripture to
illustrate or further explain the theme of each day.
As always, I love your added comments, questions and
observations to make this an even richer experience for all of us. I hope that
this new format works for you. I’ll also try to keep the music suggestions
going. Music is such a big part of worship and it does help to enrich the
devotional experience. Just be warned, some of this subject matter is hard to
put a song to, making this year a bit of a challenge musically. I hope that we all
learn, but more importantly, I hope that we experience joy on this new walk
through wisdom together. Thanks for coming along!
January 1
1. Starting
the New Year right.
“The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, King of
Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; For understanding words of
insight; For acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and
just and fair; For giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to
the young, Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the
discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings
and riddles of the wise.” ~Proverbs
1:1-6
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show
it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But
if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast
about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom,” does not come down from heaven but
is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish
ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all
pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of
righteousness.” ~James 3:13-18
The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time: “This
is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, The Lord who formed it and
established it—The Lord is His name: “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell
you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” ~Jeremiah 33:1B-3
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; He
who seeks finds; And to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” ~Matthew
7:7-8
“But if from
there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with
all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these
things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord
your God and obey Him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not
abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which He
confirmed to them by oath.” ~Deuteronomy 4:29-30
I thought that it might be good for us to take a
change of pace this year and explore the wisdom literature found in scripture. In
many chronological reading plans the wisdom literature is dealt with in a few
days or weeks. I’ve heard some Bible teachers recommend reading a chapter of
Proverbs a day, with each chapter correlating with the number date of the
month. These are all beneficial, but what if we took a whole year to explore
the depths of the wisdom God has provided for us? God has promised that, if we
ask, He will bless us with His wisdom. God has promised that His wisdom will
provide blessing when we follow His instruction. His wisdom is not hidden or
reserved exclusively to sages or hermits residing on mountain tops, requiring
daunting pilgrimages for us to learn. It’s readily available when we are
willing to take the time to stop, ask, read, and then listen.
I’m sure that most of us want to be wise. Think of the
queen of Sheba who was willing to travel many miles and pay with many gifts and
treasures for the wisdom that the Lord had imparted to King Solomon. Wisdom is
so precious. There are two ways to gain wisdom, by experience or by believing what
others in the Bible have already learned though their experiences. Unfortunately,
most of us prefer to learn the hard way. We gain wisdom through many mistakes
and poor decisions, instead of listening to what we could learn in the Bible. Then
again, we need to admit that wisdom in itself is no guarantee that all will go
well. We need look no further than Solomon himself to understand that there is
a huge difference between having wisdom and following it.
I thought that we could take the time to actually
explore the treasures that God has provided this year, and then we explore the
life of the early Church in 2021. I hope that you are excited to be with me on
this new adventure. Do you realize that we will be looking into the way that
God thinks, the way that He has designed life and that He actually wants us to
know and understand Him as best we can for our benefit?
Prayer: Lord, we come to You, asking, as You have
instructed, for your wisdom, for our lives, to be revealed in this year. May it
be said of us, as of our older brother, redeemer and King of whom it was said
that, “He grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and Man.” (Luke
2:52) Be pleased to instruct us and enable us to be quick to apply the wisdom
that You supply. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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