How to Be a Wise Guy (or Gal)

by Brian Bill
Published December 30, 2008

How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? Not so good, huh? As the year unfolds before me, I often find it difficult to even remember what I resolved to do. I tell myself, “This year I’m going to turn over a new leaf. I’m going to start rooting for the Illini…” But then somehow I forget (I’m a “cheesehead” from Wisconsin).

Most of us think of a resolution as a decision to stop doing something that’s bad for us or as a promise to do something that’s good for us. We wish each other a “Happy New Year,” (whatever that means) and we want the same for ourselves. And yet, if the truth were known, many of us are the same this year as we were last year, and we’re not really sure that we even can change.

Instead of encouraging you to make some new resolutions, as helpful as they can be, I want to challenge you to make just one request that will not only alter your year, but has the potential to change your life.

If you could ask for just one thing in 2009, what would it be? Fame? Power? Money? Good health? Long life? One night God appeared to Solomon in 1 Kings 3:5 and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon’s answer was startling in its simplicity. He merely requested a discerning heart and the supernatural ability to distinguish between right and wrong. God was pleased with this kind of request and said in verse 12: “I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart…”

Many of Solomon’s words of wisdom ended up in what we know as the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. A proverb has been called a “short sentence founded upon long experience.” That’s probably what was behind one of my favorite ones: “Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own” (26:17). That’s wisdom from experience!

Proverbs 1:7 is both the theme of the book and the key that unlocks the way to wisdom: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” In this verse we see that there are two classes of people: those who fear the Lord, and the fools who do not. The first lesson we must learn in the school of wisdom is to develop a proper view of God.

A fool is not just someone who is a couple bricks short of a load, or one whose elevator does not go to the top floor. In Proverbs, the fool is the one who doesn’t follow God’s ways. He’s the one who knows the right thing to do but instead does the opposite, or simply does nothing. Proverbs 1:32 says that the “complacency of fools will destroy them.”

Here’s a challenge in the New Year. Simply read one chapter in the Book of Proverbs every day. Since there are 31 chapters you could read the chapter that corresponds with the day of the month. When you read, write down one verse from the chapter and meditate on it throughout the day. Awhile ago, as I forced myself out of bed one morning, I jotted Proverbs 6:9 down: “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?”

If you truly want a Happy New Year, then make it a Holy New Year and request the wisdom of God. Proverbs 3:13 says, “Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gets understanding.” While many resolutions become dissolutions, researchers have discovered that most people will keep the pledge they put at the top of their list. Will you make wisdom your goal this year? If you do, this year will be different than last year…and your life will never be the same.

Viewed 364 times