Wisdom?

I've been rereading John Ortberg's book The Life You've Always Wanted, and I'm amazed by how much wisdom he has. This morning I was pondering how we transform ourselves to become more mature people, and I think the answer has something to do with drawing on the wisdom of others that have gone before us. It seems like 99% of everything we do has already been done by someone else. What makes us different is that we (hopefully) allow ourselves to be a compilation of the good in others.

A successful businessman once admired all of the older and more successful businessmen. He told himself that the only reason they were more successful is because they had been doing it longer. The older he got, the younger the successful businessmen became. Why?

He was trying to do things on his own and learn things through his own experience. Yes, I do think there are things we will have to learn on our own, but wisdom from a life already lived is a precious resource.

Proverbs 3:13-15

"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,

the man who gains understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her."

Inconsistency

I wish I could explain this inconsistency I have. During the weekdays when I don't have too much schoolwork to do, this is easy. It's when I get really busy that I need God the most, and yet that is when I spend the least amount of time reading the Bible or praying. For some reason there is a real lack of urgency to it all.

During Sunday School this past week, someone mentioned that the reason people don't stay consistent in spiritual things is because the result isn't noticeable. When we ignore laundry it piles up. When we ignore the trash it starts to smell. But what happens when we ignore time for spiritual things? I think the end result is very noticeable. Maybe it isn't so clear to other people around me, but I definitely know. I become much more irresponsible, less disciplined, irritable, unkind, impatient, rude, etc. These few minutes that I spend in the morning praying, reading scripture, and typing here are a crucial part of my health. I don't go a week without showering or brushing my teeth, so why go a week without reflecting deeply on God?

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Acts 17:11