In yesterday’s devotion we shared that the way to be great in the kingdom of God is to be obedient to God. In today’s devotion I would like to add that the way to obtain true wisdom is also through obedience to the Lord. In fact, Oswald Chambers, refers to obedience in this context as a ‘golden rule’ when he said: “The golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters is not intellect, but obedience.”1
When Theodore Roosevelt said: “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education,”2 he understood that biblical knowledge when applied to real life situations is more important than simply head knowledge. Implicit in this quote is the understanding that knowledge of the Scriptures when put into practice through obedience to the Word is what true wisdom is all about. In fact to know the Bible and not obey its commands is sheer folly. In addition to Chambers idea that obedience gives us insight into spiritual matters it also gives us great wisdom that we can apply in all types of our day to day affairs.
And when we obey the Word of God we take on more and more the mind of Christ and thereby become thoroughly equipped to face the challenges of life with great wisdom – guaranteeing not only spiritual success, but more importantly bringing glory to our Lord in the process. And the exciting thing here is that the more we glorify Jesus, the more God will bless us and grant us wisdom to handle all future situations.
In closing, I would like to leave you with a perfect example of what true obedience, or what I like to call ‘applied wisdom’ can do for a believer in Christ. When a Christian understands that trials are often God’s tools to grow our faith, to make us more like Christ, and that God will use these trials to help us build up His kingdom, thus allowing us bring more glory to the Lord, we can embrace (James 1:2-4) and experience great joy. For these wonderful verses read: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Thus, while the world looks at trials as stealing our joy, we Christians know that the exact opposite is true. When we accept the trials of life and obey God as He carries us through them, we get great joy because we become more complete in Christ and help to magnify the name of the Lord – and what can be better than that!
1 107 Oswald Chambers Quotes | ChristianQuotes.info
2 Theodore Roosevelt – A thorough knowledge of the Bible is… (brainyquote.com)