Happy Father's Day part 2

Thursday, June 18, 2015

A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.  Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.  Proverbs 24:3-4 ^(NLT)

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.  For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom.  Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.  But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.   James 3:13-17^(NLT)

An Investigation of How We Can Build Our Homes with Wisdom

Building a home with wisdom can be organized into three disciplines, hearing, holding, and heeding...we will look at “hearing” today…the other two tomorrow.

Hearing Wisdom; Identify Christian Values for your home

In the Bible to hear means more than auditory ability.  It means to listen closely, evaluate and understand.  The Proverb writer put it this way: 

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw."  Proverbs 24.32 (NIV). 

Hearing, or learning our lessons has to do with investigating what life has to offer, and then identifying Christian values within that which we see. 

It has been said that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.  Identifying Christian values means you are determining from God's Word what your targets are in life. 

Some of the more obvious Christian values are:  the sanctity of life, honesty, and fidelity.  In short, the Ten Commandments! 

To "hear" wisdom is to study, understand, and accept God's way. 

Today is my Dad’s birthday.  One of the things I remember every Father’s Day is the lesson I learned about honesty and fidelity – doing truth faithfully, no matter who’s watching.

Dad had told us boys to stay close to the house one hot Sunday afternoon.  We couldn’t stand not being able to go to the swimming pond, so we took off when nobody was looking.

I will never forget the look in Dad’s eyes when we were dragging back to the house late that afternoon.  (I will also remember till my dying day the meeting of the rod of correction with my seat of knowledge)!

My Dad understood hearing the wisdom of being honest and faithful; he taught us!

And, for the lifetime of that wisdom impressed literally (on my backside), and more importantly on my soul and spirit – thanks Dad.

For You Today

Take some time to go over in your mind the bits of “hearing” the ones who raised you must have done as they tried to impart the wisdom of values into your life.

Thank God for those who gave you that wisdom.