Have you ever heard the story of the old, wise, owl? I’m sure we all know of the story, but have you ever heard it? Well, it’s so valuable in today’s climate, give it a listen:
There was an old owl that lived in an oak. Every day he saw incidents happening around him. Yesterday he saw a boy helping an old man to carry a heavy basket. Today he saw a girl shouting at her mother. The more he saw the less he spoke.
As he spoke less, he heard more. He heard people talking and telling stories. He heard a woman saying that an elephant jumped over a fence. He also heard a man saying that he had never made a mistake.
The old owl had seen and heard about what happened to people. Some became better and some became worse. But the old owl had become wiser each and every day.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard that before, but the moral of the story is that as the owl observed and listened, he learned about people, he learned what he wanted to be and what he did not want to be. It might seem, at surface level, that he just sat back and was inactive, but that’s not really what happened. See, the old owl actively listened and observed, he sought out, remained disciplined, focused, and pursued wisdom.
The Bible tells us to do much the same in gaining wisdom. While the idea of resting in God’s grace and letting him to the work of our salvation and sanctification is absolutely right, we need to be careful to understand that we do need to make daily efforts to grow. God’s Word clearly says that wisdom is not just imparted to us, it is sought after. Growing in wisdom takes commitment and intentional pursuit. Let’s look at it straight from the Bible:
– James 1 tells us we need to ask for wisdom, it’s just not a natural given.
– Colossians 3 says that we gain wisdom through teaching and admonishing.
– Proverbs 1 says we need to fear the Lord to even begin becoming wise.
– Proverbs 3 says wisdom is to be found, which tells me, it takes an effort of seeking.
– Proverbs 17:27 says that growing in wisdom demands restraint and a cool head.
– Proverbs 4 says to go get wisdom.
To be quite honest and direct with you, the 21st century Church is pretty lazy. We’ve ran with the whole God does all the heavy lifting idea to the point where we absolve ourselves from any effort and we’ve become big spiritual blobs of inactivity. That’s not Christianity. The Bible very clearly demonstrates that believers in Christ need to study, work, grow, seek, ask, go get, and get busy for the things of God. You want to be wise, make good decisions, become a trusted person, be given more? Then, seek after wisdom; go get it. Stop wallowing on the sidelines and like the old owl, begin to observe, listen, evaluate and then seek the Lord, ask Him for wisdom and where and how to get plugged in to His mission in your context.
Go get wisdom.
