Good morning and welcome in. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from James, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
When I was in high school It was required for me to take algebra. I knew that this class was going to be difficult the very first day that I sat down at my desk. I’m not much of a mathematician, so from the get go, I knew that passing this course was going to be daunting to say the least.
We had a very tall teacher with a looming voice that completely filled up the room. As he quickly scrawled upon his chalkboard, my mouth would sit completely open like a large gaping hole, possibly hoping that some useful information would float in there, but to no avail. My eyes were big, like hens eggs, filled up with complete confusion at his advanced mathematical knowledge and algebraic concepts.
Each hour would slowly tick away in the classroom until the point at the very end when he would ask us if anybody had any questions. Like having a mind of its own, I could feel my hand begin to shoot up into the sky, but I forced it to stay down. Everybody else seemed to understand all of the things that he had been talking about except for me. I probably could have learned something that semester, if only I had asked.
This event reminds me of the Christian Life. When I was baptized into the Christian faith I understood with all my heart that God wanted to give me wisdom, but I needed to come faithfully to Him and ask for it. When a child is hungry, he asks his parents for food. Like children, when we develop a hunger and thirst for God’s wisdom, all of us need to be capable of raising our hands to him and asking for His help.
James 1:5-8 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
I have learned over the years that sometimes we don’t have things simply because we don’t ask for them. God wants us to ask for wisdom because He wants to teach us the ways of Truth. God doesn’t scold us when we come to Him seeking wisdom, but freely gives us as much as we need and desire. The very first thing we must do is to believe that He is,… and that He will reward those who diligently seek him. We need to earnestly cry out to Him and ask Him in faith.
Proverbs 2:3-6 – Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
The greatest gift that I have ever received is the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Holy scriptures. I never wanted to make the same mistake that I had made in high school, so I learned how to ask God for help. I knew that he loved me and wanted to give me wisdom, so I reached out to him in faith, knowing that if I just raised my hand, He would give me what I needed.
Matthew 7:7-11 – Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
In the old Testament, Solomon asked God for wisdom. When he asked for such a thing, it pleased the Lord very much.
1 Kings 3:7-12 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
What is one of the most important things that people seek during their day? Some seek after monetary gain, in order to increase their personal goods and standard of living. But all the earthly treasures and riches that one could amass in this world could never even be compared to the spiritual riches found in the wisdom of Christ Jesus.
Proverbs 8:11-12 – For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
The most important thing that we could ever have is sadly the thing that many people don’t even ask or go looking for.
Proverbs 4:7 – Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
God desires us to have wisdom. He passed on His knowledge to his Apostles and disciples and filled a group of unschooled men with spiritual wisdom that astonished others.
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
The Apostle Paul continually prayed for the church for the spirit of wisdom.
Eph 1:15-17 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
So, just like my algebra class, we must all remember that we need to come to God, raising our hands to Him boldly if we truly want to be filled with wisdom inside of our hearts.
We just need to ask.
Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing, we can talk some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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