"How To Live Your Life Wisely" by Hiram Kemp

Good job, Jesse. Good job,

Trevor.

Thanks.

It is true that sometimes we stereotype wisdom. I guess

if I were to ask you where you would expect to find something wise or

some wise sayings, your initial thought potentially may be, maybe a

professor. Maybe a philosopher, maybe somebody who spent their whole life

studying how people ought to live and how to behave. You probably wouldn't be thinking

about Winnie the Pooh. And I think that's our problem because

sometimes wisdom comes packaged in ways we wouldn't expect. For example,

Winnie the Pooh says on one occasion, if you're talking to somebody and they won't

listen, be patient because they may have a small piece of fluff stuck in their

ear. It seems funny, but it's wise on its face

because what he's saying is basically Sometimes people don't hear you, but times

and circumstances change, and then people may be open to instruction.

Or this one, Pooh says, you can't spend your whole life

far away in the forest from everybody else. Sometimes you have to

go to them. And that's wisdom about problem solving. He's saying, hey,

sometimes distance won't solve it, and waiting for the other person to come

to you first is never going to solve it. You have to come to them.

And that's the thing about wisdom. Sometimes we stereotype it and we expect to

find it or see it in certain places and in certain places only.

But wisdom may be found in an older person who's lived

a very long life. Wisdom may be found in a child who sees

and notices things that adults have long stopped noticing and seeing.

Or wisdom may be found on the lips of a bear who eats

a lot of honey and wears a shirt that's far too small.

You never know. But lucky enough for us, there's a whole

book of the Bible on wisdom. And it's the book of Proverbs. And as much

as Proverbs is known for its wisdom, it also, in a sense, is from a

rather unlikely source. You might remember in 1 Kings 3:10-14,

1 Kings 3:10–14

Solomon prays to God and his one request is, Lord, give me wisdom so

that I might govern your people. And God gives him unsurpassed,

divinely bestowed wisdom. And Solomon starts out great, but throughout the

rest of his life, Solomon makes many foolish decisions,

namely marrying pagan and foreign wives who draw away his heart from the Lord,

1 Kings 11:1-8. And Solomon's life is an example

1 Kings 11:1–8

of a man who had a lot, a lot of wisdom given to him,

but who often failed in the execution. But wisdom that Solomon

possessed wasn't left nullified because of his own personal failings

and shortcomings. He's a reminder that it's possible to have an inspired pen

full of sunlight even though your heart is too often filled with darkness.

And yet and still, we can learn from the things that Solomon would have us

to learn. If you have your Bible, Go ahead and turn it to Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

1. This morning I want to talk about how to live your life wisely.

And what does that mean in light of the book of Proverbs? And as you

think about Proverbs, I want you to just kind of keep this picture in mind.

The book of Proverbs includes these short, pithy statements

that Hebrew people would read, meditate on, memorize, and ultimately

teach to their children. That's these 31 chapters. It's really instruction from a father

to a son. I want you to imagine A father saying to a

son these proverbs repeatedly right before bed, or maybe a

mother yelling out one of these proverbs to her child right before they run off

to school with the hopes— and this is how proverbs work— with the hopes

that as they go out into the world and hear so many conflicting and contrary

messages, that the proverbs that have been rehearsed and studied and meditated

on and memorized throughout the night and in the early morning would be the things

swirling around in their head most often and that they would choose to be wise

rather than choose to do wrong. And with that picture in mind,

you and I must see the Proverbs as they've been read and preserved and recorded

for us and see our God yelling them out to us as we're gathered in

this assembly before we rush out into our week with the world filled

with messages that are often contrary to exactly who and what God

wants us to be. We're walking through Proverbs this morning and studying how to live

your life wisely. Not so we'll be smarter, but so

that ultimately we'll be wiser, which ultimately is about how to skillfully

live your life in God's world. So, here's what Solomon

has to say to us on how to live our lives wisely. Number 1,

do the most important things first. Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

1, Solomon lays this out, and Denver read it for us a moment ago.

Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

And then in chapter 9 and verse 10, almost in an identical statement, he says,

the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the

Holy One is insight, or instruction. Throughout wisdom literature,

this idea of the fear of the Lord, it's this reverence for God that

translates itself into responsible and godly living. And Solomon says,

here's where it starts. Living your life wisely, the fear of the Lord is

where it ultimately starts. You really want to get your life going in the right

direction? You've got to do the most important things first, and at the top of

Solomon's list is a healthy fear and reverence for who God is. And let

that work itself out throughout your life. In another book of wisdom written by Solomon,

in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and in verse 13, he says,

Ecclesiastes 12 · chapter mention

let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, or when all has been said,

fear God and keep his commandments, because this is man's all,

or this is man's whole duty. What does it mean to live your life wisely?

First things first. Fear the Lord. Do the most important thing first,

and that is get your relationship right with God.

Have a godly reverence for who he is, and then allow that to work

itself out in responsible living. This phrase, the fear of the

Lord, it appears throughout the book of Proverbs, and normally when Solomon uses it,

he backs it up with, hey, if you practice this, here'll be some of

the benefits. The fear of the Lord, it prolongs life. Proverbs chapter 10 and verse

Proverbs 10 · chapter mention

27. The fear of the Lord has a strong confidence attached to it,

Proverbs 14 and verse 26. The fear of the Lord is

a fountain of life, and it'll allow one to depart from the snares of death,

Proverbs 14 and verse 27. The fear of the Lord brings riches

and honor and life, Proverbs 22 and verse 24.

The fear of the Lord, he says, it actually leads to life, chapter 19 and

verse 23. And the fear of the Lord in Proverbs 23 and verse 17 is

the antidote to the envy of sinners. You want to live your

life wisely? Solomon says first things first, do the most important thing,

that is fear the Lord. Or another way to say this would be get

your spiritual priorities in order, and at the top of that list is

your relationship with God and mine. What does Jesus say

in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:33? Seek ye first the kingdom of

Matthew 6:33

God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Don't work for the food that perishes, but instead for the food that

will endure to everlasting life. Living a wise

life, living wisely and skillfully means no matter what, you do

the most important things first. Charles Duhigg is a former lawyer who wrote a book

a couple years ago called The Power of Habit. And in one

section in the book, he talks about, of course, habits throughout, but in one section

he talks about how you can radically change your life from a business standpoint or

a practical standpoint. And he uses these examples. He mentions a woman named Lisa Allen

who was obese, in debt, Her life was going terrible, but after she did this

one thing he suggests, she lost weight, came out of debt, and eventually ran

a marathon. He mentions world-class swimmer Michael Phelps, and he says Phelps was

once a fidgety young lad who couldn't stay still in class. His parents

thought something was wrong with him, but this one thing that he did changed his

whole life around and gave him the power to become an Olympic superstar.

And then he mentions a man by the name of Paul O'Neill, who in his

corporation and company got a job working for a better company, changed this

entire mass corporation around, because of one thing, and the one thing that Duhigg says

all of these people have in common is they practice what he called the keystone

habit. And the keystone habit according to Duhigg is one

practice, one discipline that you perform, and as a result,

all of the other dominoes in your life begin to fall in a positive way.

For Ms. Allen, it was she made one decision. She just said, you know what,

I'm done smoking. And after that, all of a sudden, just through this positive

affirmation of no longer smoking, She lost weight, she started paying her debts,

everything went the right way. And the others all did the same thing.

They did something important first at the top of the list, and positively

their life turned out in a good way. From a spiritual standpoint, here would be

some keystone habits worth adopting. Pray first and always.

Psalm 5:3 says, my voice will you hear in the morning. Picking up your phone

Psalms 5:3

in the morning before phoning your God is crazy, but we do it.

First things first, grab the phone and check it. Maybe we missed something in the

night. The psalmist says in Psalm 55:17, evening and

Psalms 55:17

morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and God, you'll hear my

voice. Or what about this one? No Bible, no breakfast.

That's from Adrian Rogers. He used to say this all the time. No Bible,

no breakfast. First, I want to talk to God, and then I want God to

talk to me. Man can't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds

out of the mouth of God. Or book every Sunday in

every season of your life. With God and with his people. Hebrews 10:25.

Hebrews 10:25

This is just the thing. Hey, no matter if it's hunting season, golf season,

summertime, wintertime, a keystone habit every Sunday in every

season, it belongs to God. Get your loves in order.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then

this one, if you're not a Christian, become one. You know how many

people are planning to be baptized? I plan to become a Christian. I'm on my

way, but I've got to get some things in order. That's an unwise decision because

until you get your life in order with God, nothing else is going

to be in order. Hear the words of Ananias to Saul in Acts 22:16.

Acts 22:16

Why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, wash away

your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. That is the first domino that

must fall in everybody's life for all of the others to go in the right

direction. How to live wisely: make sure you do

the most important things first. Here's number 2. Practice intentional neglect.

This kind of dovetails with the last point. In Proverbs chapter 4, verses 25 through

Proverbs 4:25–27

27, Solomon says, let your eyes or your gaze be

directly on and let your eyelids look straight ahead in order that your steps,

in verse 26, may be established. He says, don't turn

to the right or to the left, but you stay directly centered and

you stay directly focused. This point is not about forgetting

to do things that are important. It's about remembering not to. It's not about

forgetting certain things. It's remembering not to do certain things.

Practice intentional neglect if you're going to live your life wisely. If you're going

to live skillfully, Solomon says you're going to need this principle.

Intentional neglect says I purposely choose to

practice a sort of willful amnesia and say, here's a list of things,

this is the first point, I'm going to do these things first, but here's another

list of things, I'm not doing those things. What does Paul say in Philippians 3:13-14?

Philippians 3:13–14

Forgetting the things which are behind, And stretching forward to

the things which are ahead, I press toward the upward call for the high calling

of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14.

Philippians 3:13–14

That's intentional neglect. And if we're going to live our lives wisely,

we have to do that. Look at Proverbs chapter 4 and notice verse

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

25. Don't miss the depth and thorough nature of this metaphor that Solomon

uses. In the last part of verse 25, he says, let your eyes always

be straight before you. In Hebrew, he says literally, let your eyelids or

your eyelashes be straight ahead of you. You read that and you think, what does

that mean? He's literally saying, He's saying to his son, see the image,

his hands on his son's shoulders, and he's literally saying, son, don't even

blink. Get your eyes set on the most important goals

in life and don't even blink. Don't look to the right or to the left.

You just go straight ahead. Just see the instruction. You say to your son,

your daughter, I want you to leave here and go to the store.

Don't pass go. Don't take any detours. Don't make any pit stops. Go and

do this one thing. Nehemiah says in Nehemiah 6:3,

Nehemiah 6:3

Sanballat, Geshem, and Tobiah, they say, come down, as they try

to disturb his work. And in Nehemiah 6:3, he says, I'm doing a great

Nehemiah 6:3

work and I cannot come down.

You want to live your life wisely? Practice intentional neglect.

Nobody did this better than Jesus Christ.

Throughout Jesus' earthly ministry, he was as good at saying no as

he was at saying yes. They said, Herod's out to kill you. Jesus said,

tell that fox I do miracles today and tomorrow and the third day

I'll rise from the dead, Luke 13:32.

Luke 13:32

When Peter says, you're not going to the cross, it won't happen, he dismissed his

words and says, you are after the things of Satan and

not the things of God, Matthew 16:22-23. When the

Matthew 16:22–23

people in Capernaum said, Jesus, you've got to stay here, the people need you,

he practiced intentional neglect. He said, I must leave here and

go to other places because they need the gospel too, Mark 1:37-38.

Mark 1:37–38

And even when He was on trial for His life before Pilate,

and the Jews hurled all manner of insults against Him, Mark 15:5

Mark 15:5

says, Jesus intentionally neglected their responses. He said nothing.

Silence was His response. And that's wisdom.

It's like Annie Dillard says, she says, this matters, this intentional

neglect, because our lives are made up of the things we do on a daily

basis. And Jesus was great. He was the best. He excelled at

saying, I'm not doing that. Because I've got to focus on this.

And this is a challenge for us because this means that some of us will

end up being foolish rather than wise because intentional

neglect, it may seem mean, it may seem harsh. To intentionally

neglect some people and some things may be too difficult

for us. And we may say to ourselves, I just can't do that. They need

me. I've got to be here. I've got to do all of these things.

And it's a foolish choice because the thing that may keep us from

being all that God ultimately wants us to be may not be something sinful.

It may just be something secondary. Hebrews 12:1 says,

Hebrews 12:1

lay aside every weight and the sins that so easily ensnare

you. What does that mean? There are sins, yes, lay those aside, but there are

also secondary things you just have got to learn to say, that's none of my

business. I'm not doing that. I'm not focused on that.

I'm not working on that right now. I'm focused on this.

There are some things in our lives if we're going to live wisely that we

need to get rid of, not because it's bad for us, but it's just not

what's best for us. Paul says, endure hardness, Timothy,

as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No soldier that's engaged

in war entangles himself in civilian affairs, 2 Timothy 2:3-4.

2 Timothy 2:3–4

If you're going to live wisely, practice intentional neglect. Martin Shaw,

in his book Liturgies of the Wild, he says this, don't be flayed

alive by daily news— by the daily news. Pay attention to what's happening

on your block and in your village. It's okay to not have an opinion of

everything going on in far-off countries. It doesn't mean you're stupid.

It means the opposite. It means you may have something near normal

blood pressure, and it may mean there's a big old part of you that is

simply not for sale. It's worth practicing a little unavailability

for the world's carousel. What is that? Shaw is basically saying,

hey, there are some things you just have got to turn off and turn down.

What is that? That's skillful living. And Solomon says what it's going to take

to live for God involves so much of your energy and so much of your

focus You and I can't afford to be distracted.

Here's number 3: be ruthless with eliminating sin from your

life. This may be the warning in the book of Proverbs that Solomon

sounds off the loudest on, and in Proverbs chapter 6, he does

Proverbs 6 · chapter mention

it through a word picture, through a metaphor. Proverbs 6 and verse 27,

he says, can a man take fire in his bosom and

his clothes not be burned? In verse 28, he says, can you walk on hot

coals without your feet being scorched? The idea is if

you engage in this behavior, if you practice this thing, it'll ruin you.

It'll wreck your life. You've got to be wise, and you've got to be intentional

and be ruthless about eliminating sin from your life as it crops up.

Solomon's rhetorical questions in Proverbs 6:27-28,

Proverbs 6:27–28

they suggest to us that there really are no friendly sins.

Any sin that we find ourselves engaged in, when it's brought to the surface and

we realize it, He says you've got to depart from it because it'll destroy you.

James 1:15, James says, sin after it's conceived,

James 1:15

it gives birth to lust. After it's conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin,

when it reaches its full state of maturity, it brings forth death.

Do not be deceived. And if you and I are going to live wisely,

we've got to practice a ruthless elimination with the sin in our

own lives. At the end of the book of Proverbs, or near the end,

look at Proverbs 28:13. In Proverbs 28:13,

Proverbs 28:13 Proverbs 28:13

Solomon says, he who conceals his sin, or he who covers it,

will not prosper, but he that confesses and

forsakes it will find mercy. A wise person has to do both things

at the end of verse 13. He says you've got to confess it. That is,

you've got to acknowledge it. Psalm 32:5,

Psalms 32:5

David says, I acknowledge my transgression. I am sorry

for my sin. And then you've got to turn away from it and abandon it.

Acts 3:19, Repent and turn away.

Acts 3:19

That's to say you can't confess it and then cling to it, but at

the same time, you can't kick it to the curb and refuse to confess it.

The blessing of Proverbs 28:13 is attached

Proverbs 28:13

to the person that does both. And throughout the book of Proverbs,

Solomon has given his son these warnings, and he says them in these explicit

terms. He says, turn away from her house, don't go near the door,

Proverbs chapter 5 and verse 8. He says, deliver yourself out of temptation

Proverbs 5 · chapter mention

and hardship like a bird from a fowler or like a gazelle from the hand

of a hunter, Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 5.

Proverbs 6 · chapter mention

Don't go by that way. Don't pass on it. Turn aside and go

in the opposite direction, Proverbs 4:14-15. Be ruthless about

Proverbs 4:14–15

eliminating the sin in your own life. And maybe when you think about this

point, you think about people in the Bible who did this well, and I think

at the top of that list you would have to put David. David in Psalm

Psalms 51:3

51:3 says, I acknowledge my transgression. My sin is

ever before me. Against you, God, and you only have I

done this sin and done what's evil and wicked in your sight. Listen to David.

I acknowledge my transgression. My sin is ever before me.

David has studied and known his own sin. Here's the question. Have you studied yours?

It's easy to study mine. You might see a lot of imperfections in me,

and I might be able to see those things in you. David says, I acknowledge

my transgressions, my sin, is ever before me, because the wise

person says, I want to make sure that I fix what's right in my life

and not get so caught up in yours.

People that are nearsighted can see really good close up, but everything far away is

fuzzy and blurry. I'm looking at some people with glasses. You understand what this is

about, right? And then other people that are farsighted, they can see things in the

distance, but they can't see things close up.

Spiritually speaking, beware of being a farsighted

person. Beware of being able to see everybody's sin at a distance, but not

the sin— I mean, that's right here close up. Everybody else's sin is blatant,

but your own sin is blurry. Romans 2:19-23,

Romans 2:19–23

Paul says, what you command other people to do, don't you do the very same

thing? Wise people are ruthlessly scanning their lives and

looking to cut out things and cut things away that'll ruin them.

It's what the Puritan theologian John Owen once said, be killing

sin or sin will be killing you. Romans 8:13,

Romans 8:13

Paul says, if we live by the flesh, we'll die. But if we through the

Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh, it's then that we'll live.

And you probably can think of a lot of like popular metaphors that get this

point across. I was thinking of one for this lesson and this idea, maybe you've

heard this said this about something else before, just rip the Band-Aid off. You ever

heard that? Rip— what does that mean? Rip the Band-Aid off. Well, it means,

hey, you probably, if you try to peel it off slowly, you're going to

experience some pain, but not only that, you're going to prolong the pain.

But if you rip it off, somebody says, well, that's going to hurt too.

It will, but it'll be momentary and it'll be a single event and then

it'll be over. Throughout the book of Proverbs, Solomon is saying in relation to our

sins, you've got to rip the Band-Aid off. You don't slowly work yourself up

to it. You don't work around it. He says, I just want you to ruthlessly

eliminate it or else it'll drown you and sink you and it'll ultimately

destroy you. Put it to death. Colossians 3 and verse 5.

A wise person is regularly scanning their life, not being hypercritical

of themselves, but simply saying, I want to do things that glorify God. And as

I realize through a study of scripture or through wise counsel that I'm not doing

so, I want to confess, and then I want to abandon, and I want to

forsake. Because you can't take fire in your bosom and as

a result of that not be burned. Quickly, here's number 4,

how to live your life wisely: be courageous enough to apologize.

This is a part of what Paul means in Romans 12:18, as much as it

Romans 12:18

depends on you, live peaceably with all people. It had to be what Jesus had

in mind in Matthew 5:9, blessed are the peacemakers because they'll

Matthew 5:9

be called the children of God. The 2 hardest words to say in the English

language, you know them, I'm sorry. We can't do it, but if we're going to

be wise, we have to because Solomon is telling us the truth when he says,

a soft answer turns away wrath, Proverbs 15:1.

Proverbs 15:1

Or Proverbs 17:9, love covers a multitude of sins,

Proverbs 17:9

but a person that repeats a matter— what Solomon means in Proverbs 17:9

Proverbs 17:9

is not just repeats it and says it again, but a person that rehearses

the matter even in their own hearts. You ever been wrong before and like you

just keep playing, I can't believe they, I can't believe I? A person that repeats

a matter separates close friends. How to live your life wisely?

Be courageous enough to apologize. Takes a lot

of courage to right wrongs and to go across the fence first and to say,

you know what, I messed that up. But the sooner we do it, the better

our lives will be and the more skillfully and wisely we'll live.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says one of the marks of spiritually mature

people is they're in a hurry to reconcile. Matthew 5:23-24,

Matthew 5:23–24

Jesus says, if you come to worship and realize I've got

an issue with my brother, he says, leave your gift at home at the altar.

First go be reconciled to your brother and then come worship me.

What is God saying? God says, I would rather you be early to forgive

and late to church than to be in my presence knowing you're at odds

with other people. James 5:16 says, confess your faults

James 5:16

one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. Surely James

is talking in James 5:16 in a general sense. If you've got an issue with

James 5:16

somebody, he says, hey, confess your faults, tell other people when you're struggling.

But maybe in James 5:16, James is speaking specifically about

James 5:16

when I wrong you. Confess your faults to one another. If I've done something

wrong against you, a wise person wants to confess

it. How do you live your life wisely? Be courageous

enough to apologize. Now, this does necessitate that

people have to know when they've wronged us. You know, sometimes we practice the

silent treatment, but if we're honest, we know the silent treatment rarely treats anything.

And so we should stop treating it like it's a solution. If people are going

to make it right with us, they've got to know that they've wronged us.

But sometimes we struggle. And Solomon says wise people,

they're in a hurry to make it right. But you know, some of us,

we're not good at apologizing. And I can think of several reasons, and maybe you

can. We're not good at apologizing because sometimes we do it too fast.

Sorry. What'd you say? Sorry.

We don't want to say it. Or maybe we've got too many caveats. Hey,

I'm sorry, but you know what you did. I'm sorry, but you forced

me into this and you made me. Or sometimes we apologize to

people, but it's really not sincere. We don't really mean it. Or we have all

of these— this generalization. If I've done anything wrong to offend you.

If you start out with that, just don't even apologize. Stay at home.

If you've done anything wrong. No, be specific. Be direct.

And the burden that'll be lifted, it'll be such a blessing to you.

That you'll go on your way rejoicing. How do you live your life wisely?

Be courageous enough to apologize. Here's number 5,

learn from past mistakes. The book of Proverbs talks

about doing the best we can to live wisely, but the book of Proverbs is

really not about living a stain-free life and never slipping

up and never making a mistake. But Solomon says several things in these 31 chapters

to suggest that the wise life is not necessarily the stain-free life,

but it is the life where our mistakes don't have sequels. Where we learn

from things that we've done, and as a result, we try to be better in

the future. Proverbs 19:20, he says, my son, receive instruction

Proverbs 19:20

and receive admonishment so that you might be wise in your ways.

And he gives his son a lot of ways to go about this, a lot

of ways of learning from past mistakes. And one of the primary ways that Solomon

does this with his son and that he would have us to do is this:

learn from other people's past mistakes. They don't have to be your own.

And throughout the book of Proverbs, it's interesting that Solomon uses word pictures to

say to his son, you don't want to be like this. And Solomon didn't think

his son had to live it to learn from it. He says, do you see

that drunken man out there? He was beaten last night, lost all of his money.

He was in the middle of the sea on the top of a mast.

And when he woke up, he says, I need to have another drink. Proverbs 23:35.

Proverbs 23:35

Solomon says, son, don't be like that. The wicked

people, They don't know over what they stumble. Their hearts are a deep and

dark ditch. Proverbs 4:19, he says, son, whatever you

Proverbs 4:19

do, don't be like that. He talks about the wicked and

the pathway that they travel and the way they go about their lives in Proverbs

Proverbs 4:15–17

4:15-17. And he says all of these things to his son

to say, I want you to avoid that way because one of the ways

to live skillfully and wisely is learn from past mistakes.

Learn from others' past mistakes. Think about Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. All of

these plagues are being plummeted down upon the people of Egypt. Because of his refusal

to let the people go. And on one occasion, his own wise men come to

him in Exodus 10:7, and they say, Pharaoh, don't you see that

Exodus 10:7

all of Israel, all of Egypt is in ruins? Let these people go so

they can worship their God. And he refuses to listen. The frogs weren't

enough for him. The lice wasn't enough for him. The darkness of the night wasn't

enough for Pharaoh. He never learned. Proverbs 26:11,

Proverbs 26:11

this is a proverb repeated in the New Testament. Solomon says,

as a dog returns to his vomit, so fools return to

their folly. Be wise, Solomon is saying to his son, and learn

from past mistakes, and then learn from some of your own.

You'll make mistakes in life, but he's saying, I want you to be wise,

and I want you to do the right thing so you'll avoid bruises

and avoid hardship. Sometimes when you

take pictures as an individual or as a family, you just have— everybody has these,

these photo negatives, these embarrassing pictures. Somebody wasn't holding

their hands in the right position. Somebody's mouth was open in a weird

way. I mean, you've had these pictures, and you know what you do with those

pictures all the time? You look at them, you note them, but you don't frame

them and put them on a wall. What do you do? You get rid of

them. And Solomon is saying, hey, you want to be wise? Look at your own

life. There's a lot of negatives. There's a lot of bad shots. And I want

you to be able to go back in time and to say, you know what?

That was a rough season. I mean, that was— those were dark years. I did

some foolish things. Those are in the negatives. I wasn't holding my heart right.

My heart wasn't right. It wasn't open in the right way. I was engaged in

foolish behavior. And he says, I want you to make the right corrections and adjustments.

Don't frame them. Don't show them to everybody in the world. But he says,

I want you to learn from it and never go in that way again because

wise people learn from their mistakes. Here's number 6,

keep a quiet heart. How do you live your life wisely? Keep a

quiet heart. Proverbs 4 and verse 23, Solomon says,

Keep your heart with all diligence because out of it flow the very

issues of life. You want to live your life wisely? Keep a quiet

heart. That means learn how to settle your heart down in such a way that

you really come to know the true and lasting peace that God gives us in

Christ. Proverbs 14:30, a tranquil or a

Proverbs 14:30

sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy is the rottenness of the

bones. How do you live your life wisely? Keep a quiet heart. Elizabeth Elliot says,

a quiet heart is really a heart that accepts God's corrections,

God's instructions, and God's interruptions without frantically

worrying about the future. This is a person who's just learned how to calm

their own soul down because they trust in Scripture. They trust in

what God has said. And keeping a quiet heart means I put my full and

complete trust in God, and whatever He has out in front of me, that's what

I'm going to do, and that's what I'm going to be about. Philippians 4:6-7,

Philippians 4:6–7

be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication

With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God

that surpasses all understanding, it'll guard your heart and minds through Christ Jesus.

Listen, there are Christians that read the Bible every single day,

that pray to God incessantly, that are faithful to the worship

services, that repent of sin when they stumble, and that try to confess

and be as honest and upright and as honorable as they can be.

And so far as God's concerned, they're walking in the light. And those same people

for various reasons, mainly dealing with this point,

outside of any clinical hardship, they just cannot quiet their heart.

Their heart is always racing and normally racing toward destruction

or disaster. How does that happen to us? It's about what Solomon's saying.

He's saying above everything else in the world, give all diligence.

Above everything else, get your heart situated in such a

way that you are no longer carried about with your heart in every direction.

Thinking of every worst-case scenario, no longer being a slave

to your feelings, your urges, and all of the what-ifs and maybes. Living a

wise life says, you know what, heart, we've got to settle down and we got

to do things the way God wants us to do it. And whatever happens as

a result of that, we'll be good with it. It's what

the psalmist means in Psalm 131:1 when he says, I don't exercise myself in

Psalms 131:1

thoughts too high for me or too lowly. I'm good right with where God has

me. It's about learning to live our lives at a comfortable pace,

and not a crazy one. 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Solomon says,

1 Thessalonians 4:11

aspire to live your lives quietly and be wise and eat your

own bread and be content. How do you live your life wisely?

Get in line with God and do what he would have you. And then here's

number 7. Oh, I should say something about this. I have this picture up here.

In the NFL, they sometimes have these helmets. That helmet looks like,

you know, it's been supersized by Wendy's or something, but the whole purpose of

those helmets is to absorb impact. Only a few players in the NFL wear these,

and it's so that they can protect their heads from damage. Listen, it looks silly,

it looks weird, only a few players do it, but it absorbs 10% of

the impact. And a lot of people in the NFL that wear these say,

you know what, I feel better in the games. It looks weird, it looks strange

to other people, but I'm trying to keep my head so that I don't have

CTE or all these issues when I'm done playing this game and when I retire.

There are some things that you and I need to do to guard our hearts.

It may look strange to other people. It may look funny to them. It may

look weird, but at the end of the day, I'm trying to guard my heart

at all costs. And as a result, I want to keep what matters the most

safe so it'll keep me from destruction and from being harmed. Here's number 7,

and finally, let God have his way. How do you live a

wise life? Let God have his way. Proverbs 3:5-6 is

Proverbs 3:5–6

probably the most well-known set of verses in all of the book of

Proverbs. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Don't lean

on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will

direct your paths. If you've spent any time around scripture, any dipping

in and out of Proverbs, you know Proverbs 3:5-6. But the question is, read Proverbs

Proverbs 3:5–6

3 and especially verse 5 again. Trust in the Lord with all of

your heart. The wise life does this, but let's be honest, how many

of us are trusting the Lord with 50% of it?

75% of it? According to Solomon, that's a

foolish way to live. If you're only going to trust in God partially, 80,

90— no, the blessing of Proverbs 3:5-6 is only

Proverbs 3:5–6

granted and given to the person who trusts in the Lord with all of their

heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways know God, he says,

and God, he'll direct your paths. You live your life wisely,

just like the song Kason led us in before the sermon, by simply letting God

have his way. And saying God's in complete control, not just over the universe,

but over my whole life. And as a result of that, I completely trust

him. We have a word in our English dictionaries, confidence, and that deals more

with us. Now, this word I'm about to tell you is not in the dictionary,

but it should be in yours. It's Godfidence. And it's this idea—

Godfidence isn't about my own personal confidence in me. Godfidence is

simply saying, you know what? I have God and I'm

good. Whatever happens, whatever the world orders up for me, whatever happens

in my life, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Know him and he

will make your path straight. He'll do it. It's God's responsibility to make

the path straight. It's our responsibility to simply trust. The person that

lets God have his way is the person who over time,

through maturity, through allowing these Proverbs to ruminate in

the mind, to meditate on them and memorize them, is the person who has ceased

trying to control God. Cease trying to get God to do things

their way. Cease trying to get God, give me all the information, tell me how

things are going to work out, direct my paths. We simply trust and

we let God direct. Maybe you remember when you first

started driving. You remember you wanted to get your license and you just couldn't wait

to drive, and then you got your license and you became the family chauffeur.

Your parents started sending you to get stuff, making you do all the things,

get all the groceries, rack up all the miles. And then you kind of remember

it was pretty nice just sitting in the back seat and doing nothing. And you

know, there are scores of people who really want their spiritual license. Oh,

we really want to drive our lives. We really want to be in control.

We really know exactly how things should go, how the plan

should work, how everything— and then we get in the driver's seat and God says,

if you fire me, so be it. And then we learn life was

so much better sitting in the back seat and just letting God

do God things, because God has been God a lot longer than we've been studying

or thinking about him. And the more we just let go, this is the wise

life. It's the freeing life. It's the relinquishing

life that says, you know what? I've got a Heavenly Father in heaven, and how

dare I live like an atheist as if nobody cares for me and nobody's

really in charge when God is. Solomon says, trust in Him completely,

and when He does— when you do that, He'll make all your paths straight.

The book of Proverbs is pointing really beyond itself. It starts,

the book of Proverbs, these are words on a page, But there came

a day when the book of Proverbs literally came alive, and Proverbs

was embodied by a person. And Jesus Christ is

the book of Proverbs all dressed up in flesh and bones. He always

did the right thing. He always made the right decisions. And as we

read the book of Proverbs, there's a sense in which we double-click on the book

of Proverbs and get a closer and clearer view when we find ourselves in Jesus,

because he is where all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are

found, Colossians 2:3. And how do you live your life wisely? We mentioned this already,

Colossians 2:3

but above and over everything else, become a Christian.

If you believe Jesus is the Son of God based on the inspired testimony

of the New Testament, you're ready to turn away from your life, ruthlessly eliminate

sin. Outside of Christ, you can't do this on your own. Guilt will weigh you

down literally to the grave, but you can turn from sin, confess Jesus,

and be baptized into Christ, and God will wash away all your sins, and you'll

rise to walk and newness of life. You'll be added to his church, to the

family of God, and we'd love to help you, love to assist you in living

for Jesus as you do the same with us. If you've done that already and

you feel as if, you know, foolishness has gotten a hold of me, it may

be a situation you can take care of in your seat, and you can pray

and repent and forsake it and confess it, and God will forgive it. But if

we can pray with you and for you collectively in this assembly, it would be

our honor to do so. Kason's going to lead us in a song to encourage

us. If you need to respond, come now as together we stand and sing.