Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Fountainhead of Wisdom

The Fountainhead of Wisdom For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2 v 6 The reason I do this exercise of writing a uni-verse every day, first thing in the morning is that I am convinced and convicted that each verse from God’s Word is a portion or slice of His eternal wisdom. The wisdom, knowledge and understanding of mankind contained in all our books and on the net is only finite and limited to the extent of our experiences, perceptions and intellect. But when we diligently study the Word of God, it amounts to receiving wisdom, knowledge and understanding at His mouth. Like a mother bird feeds its young who are too small, feeble and unable to fly to find its own food or even to feed itself, the Lord feeds us sweet morsel by morsel of His infinite wisdom, knowledge and understanding. The precepts of wholesome life, the very laws of our moral and spiritual universe are hidden in these verses. Just as scientists study diligently physical objects and phenomena to discover the physical laws of the universe, we need to study scripture to understand the spiritual laws of the universe. If we do not find, understand and observe these laws, we will suffer loss. The very word “understanding” implies that which stands under- like the foundation of a building or structure, they are the invisible foundational principles of life. Today, management experts throughout the world, having failed to find guidance and solutions using human wisdom, are looking into scripture to find answers and solutions to business and leadership issues. The Lord does not withhold wisdom but He delights to give it to him who seeks it diligently. Through God-given wisdom, we will be able to judge correctly, discern and take correct decisions in our lives. He enlightens our eyes so that we understand the hope of His calling upon our lives or the very purpose of our existence and the riches of His glorious inheritance along with the saints. We need to tune our receiver to His frequency all the time. The Holy Spirit will then help us interpret the scripture contextually and aptly to meet our present need. In order to extract wisdom from a verse, we need to first of all recall the words of the verse, then we should run the verse repeatedly in our minds several times like a cow that ruminates and chews its cud 18 times before it is assimilated. We should reflect on every word and its meaning, every phrase and every application of the verse. We need to read and understand the equivalent verses through the entire Bible and understand the meaning of these references too. This is the process I use every day to write the uni-verse. Later in the course of the day’s activities, we should try to remember the verses, its meaning and application. As we recall it, we should put it into practice in our daily lives. Just as a loaf of bread is not meant for exhibition but for consumption, the Word is meant to be used up and then renewed. Yesterday, I saw a man who did the incredible feat of remembering a hundred digit number not only forwards but also backwards within a couple of minutes of being given the number. He had trained his memory using the principles of association, imagination and exaggeration. But such human wisdom has its limitations and will perish with him. Human wisdom, knowledge and understanding has uses for the mind or body. But spiritual wisdom that is authored by the Lord is eternal, infinite and impacts spirit, minds and our bodies. It is peaceful, gentle, pure and holistic. Prateep V Philip

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