If it is that stressful to choose between Subway and Jersey Mike’s, how much more stressful is it to make decisions that critically impact our future and our family? Wisdom is the key. If you want to make great choices, you must navigate with wisdom as your guide. If you want to excel in your career or gain influence with people, your wisdom is a characteristic that people will always gravitate toward.

Read Proverbs 1.

Here are a couple of important lessons from that passage:

Verse 7 – The foundation for every decision is to honor and glorify God.

When making an important decision, you must ask the question – “What can I do in this situation that will bring the most glory to God.”

Verses 8,9 – We must build off our heritage.

There have been incredible people that have poured years of wisdom into your life. Don’t ignore that advice. In fact, my wall is filled with quotes, most of which came from people who spoke those things directly to me. When someone speaks wisdom into my life and the light bulb comes on for me, I want to remember that moment. I want to remember that wisdom. So, I write it down and put it in a place where I am reminded of that life lesson.

If you think old = irrelevance, you are an idiot! Don’t disregard the wealth of wisdom around you, just because it may be coming from someone older than you! I don’t enjoy getting older. I hate most things about it. However, wisdom is a growing part of age that I love. I do understand that with life experience comes wisdom. What you choose to do with that wisdom is another story!

Verses 10-19 – We must pursue wisdom.

Do you surround yourself with people who are wise? Who do you hang out with? What relationships do you have that are helping you grow in every area of your life? If you don’t have those relationships, seek them out! Recently, I called a business owner and asked for a meeting. This guy is well known in our community as a follower of Jesus, successful businessman, husband and father. I’ve watched him for five years and every time I see Him he always seems on top of the world. So I asked him very specific questions about balancing career and family. He poured incredible wisdom into my life. I would have never had that chance to grow if I had not sought out that relationship.

If your desire is to be a life-long follower of Jesus, you must also be careful who you are gaining wisdom from. What may sound wise, may very well be disobedience to God and His Word. God’s Word trumps advice from anyone!

You can be a “wise guy”.
Seek wisdom.
Cultivate wisdom.
Use wisdom wisely!

“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.”

Why? That’s a powerful word that we rarely give much thought.

It is a question of motives. When someone asks, “Why are you doing that?” They basically want to know what your motive or reason for doing that specific task really is.

I teach at our church that God wants us to be life-long followers of Jesus. It’s actually the mission behind everything we do. In fact, that statement answers “Why” to everything we do as a church.

Why do we worship on Sundays?
We want to build life-long followers of Jesus.
Why do we place a high emphasis on discipleship and small groups?
We want to build life-long followers of Jesus.
Why do we serve those in our church family?
We want to build life-long followers of Jesus.
Why do we demonstrate the love of God to our city?
We want to build life-long followers of Jesus.

Those words are not simply our mantra, they are our motive. They are our “WHY”.

But here come a few more “why” questions:

Why do you follow Jesus?
Why are you a Christian?
Why do you use the Bible as your guide for living?
Why do you apply Scripture to your life?
Why do you follow the commands of God in your personal and professional life?
Why do you live with integrity and purity?

I’m not sure how you would answer, but here are a few answers that come to my mind.

I want to go to heaven. (And I don’t want to go to hell!)
I want the blessings of God in my life. (He can’t bless disobedience.)
It’s all I know to do. (My parents taught me to follow Jesus as a child.)
It’s the right thing to do.

Those have all been motivators to my decision to be a life-long follower. For so long, however, something was strangely missing. I was doing the right things, worshipping in the right way, following the list of do’s and don’ts to the letter. But it was never quite enough. I could never get it right all of the time. I had my good moments, but I also had my bad. And I never seemed to live “good enough”.

The Holy Spirit really began to speak to my heart and I really believe God began asking me “WHY”. Why are you following Me? Why are you keeping this list of do’s and don’ts? Why are you fulfilled in your life with Me?

I quickly began to discover the WHY was the problem.

I wasn’t following Jesus because I was overwhelmed by His love and grace. I wasn’t following Him because I simply wanted to spend time with Him as a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Like the Pharisees, my life was all ritual and no relationship. All style and no substance.

Right now, maybe you are trying to make some major changes in your life. Most of us are this time of year. Please understand that real change doesn’t come from just trying to get rid of the bad things in our lives. They are only expelled when something greater, more wonderful, more glorious captures our hearts and crowds them out.

My prayer for you, as it is for my own life, is that we would experience the love of God in a new and powerful way. Not just His love for us, but our love for Him. I pray that His magnificent grace would fill our hearts and out of love and devotion for Him, we would choose to live with integrity and purity. Out of devotion, may we choose to worship, study and pray as a way to demonstrate our love for Him and not as a way to prove we are followers of Jesus or because we will feel guilty if we don’t.

Following Jesus is not a commitment to rules and regulations. Your walk with Him didn’t start with a list. It started with His sacrifice for you and your response of devotion to Him. Commitment to Him is a personal walk and relationship with the Son of God. As a result of that relationship, our desire to be obedient to Him in every way possible is nothing more than an act of worship.

Experience a new love for Jesus this year. Don’t settle for a mediocre experience with God. Know what you want and go after it with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

How do you handle life when you find yourself in a difficult spot? Remember names like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? Yes, these were the young men God saved in a dramatic way. When Daniel survived a night with famished lions and when the Triple Threat (no, not Lebron, Wade and Bosh) survived the fiery furnace, no one could deny the power of God!

What’s their history? What’s the back-story? All four of these young men were Israelites. They had been taken into bondage by King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He had instructed his assistants to search through the Israelites and find the best looking, smartest and most capable young men. I guess you could say it was one of the first drafts. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were among those chosen.

Although they were chosen because of their appearance and intelligence, there was something still different about them. In fact, they were found ten times more capable than any of the king’s consultants. That’s undeniable influence! Don’t forget that these guys were in very difficult circumstances. But even in a place they desperately didn’t want to be – they flourished.

The thing that so greatly set them apart from everyone else was their character. Here are a couple of important things to remember about character:

Character is more than talk. Action is the real indicator of character.
Talent is a gift, but character is a choice.
Talent will only carry you as far as your character can sustain you.
God wants to give you incredible influence in the world you live. You have a great opportunity to demonstrate God’s favor on your life no matter what circumstance you find yourself. Whether in captivity, in a den of lions or a fiery furnace, God will demonstrate His power in your life when you demonstrate character that can be trusted.