Do You Really Want To Be Wise?

Do You Really Want To Be Wise?

 

Good Morning Friends,

 

Today we read about how the Passover meal strengthened and sustained God’s people during their journey to the Promised Land and how Holy Communion strengthens and sustains believers as they journey through life seeking the understanding of the Spirit. It all comes together for good if it the Lord’s will that motivates you. So, we ask the obvious question. Do You Really Want To Be Wise?

 

Scripture: Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places in the town, “You that are simple, turn in here!” To those without sense she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

 

Proverbs 9:1-6 (NRSV)

 

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Ephesians 5:15-20 (NRSV)

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I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

 

John 6:51-58 (NRSV)

 

Message: Being wise has its upside for sure. Proverbs portrays Wisdom and Folly as rival young women, each preparing a feast and inviting people to it. But Wisdom is a responsible woman of character, while Folly is a prostitute serving stolen food. Wisdom appeals to the mind; Folly to the senses. For it is easier to excite the senses, but the pleasures of Folly are temporary. By contrast, the satisfaction that Wisdom brings lasts forever. Solomon asked and received wisdom. And there is wisdom in the Lord’s supper especially in how it reaffirms our unity as one body and our fellowship with one another in a way that no other group can ever experience. At the Lord’s Table we celebrate the living Christ in our hearts and lives and share in His divine nature. At the Lord’s Table we enter an intimate fellowship with God and with our fellow brothers and sisters. There is wisdom in being a Christian in a community of love. Life’s true freedom is lived in the Spirit. We are to exhibit in our lives a submission to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. In our daily walk we are to choose love over indifference…joy over gloom…peace over anxiety… long-suffering over a short fuse…kindness over apathy…goodness over selfishness…faith over doubt…trust over mistrust…gentleness over harshness…self-control over a submission to our lust. These attributes of wisdom will lead us to an abundant life.

 

Pray we rejoice and give thanks for being part of a fellowship of believers committed to knowing God. Pray we marvel at the unity of believers in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Pray that we receive the abundant blessings of God poured out in the cup of salvation. Pray wisdom dwells permanently in us as in a house and not a tent. Pray we have a foundation of faith which is solid with pillars of traditions that are strong and sturdy. Pray we accept and follow God’s wisdom so our life might be full. Pray our life’s journey has meaning. Pray we use our time wisely. Pray we know the will of God. Pray we are not under the influence of those things that numb the senses. Pray we have a lifestyle lived under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

Blessings,

 

John Lawson