September, 2017 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

What is the Character of a Wise Person?

Character of the Month Series

A wise person does not know too much. Or, more correctly stated, he does not pay attention to everything or give credit to countless details bombarding his senses each day. He is wise but he does not allow worldly information to ‘cloud his judgment’.

Yesterday, I sent out an article about ‘waiting’. Waiting has three distinct time frames God honors. What I did not mention is that waiting is only effective if “peace” is its guide. One cannot wait for God unless His peace is ruling over your life. You will have fear, doubt, confusion, anxiety, worry or misplaced love without peace. It is peace that controls your waiting process no matter what your “waiting in Christ’” entails.

A good example of this is Daniel. The Book of Daniel has many interesting stories as well as character examples of people who placed God above everything else. Daniel learned to wait and it was counted to him for righteousness. In Hebrews, he is stated as one of the fathers of faith.

Daniel gave us examples of all three types of ‘waiting in peace’ and God coming to his rescue. It is important to mention that Daniel did not care about what the accepted norms were of his day—as a stranger in a strange land.

But, Daniel did care about what God expected of him and what it takes to be wise. Here are some of the things he did:

ü If there was a law that contracted what he understood as God’s requirement for his service to God—he did not let that law deter him from serving God—he prayed 3 times a day. (Prayer can make one wise)

ü He would not allow food or other secular customs to pollute his body, which he considered the temple of the presence of God. (Wise men protect their bodies from evil pollution—things sacrificed to idols.)

ü He gives honor to whom honor is due. He always honored the King even though he did not honor the king’s administrative leaders. (Wisdom gives place and respect to those in authority.)

ü He was not afraid for his life but trusted in God more than the natural laws of Mother Nature—lions do eat people. (He knew God and knew his place in God.)

ü Wisdom allows one to see future events and God gives this wisdom to us. Daniel’s wisdom predicted future earthly events even though nature laws would say otherwise. (Wisdom looks through the eyes of God, not man.)

Daniel did not let what he knew naturally or present political, physical, and natural laws to interfere with what God was saying or wanted to do. He ignored conventional or natural wisdom; he allowed nothing to interfere with the testimony of God and His will. He kept himself ignorant for God’s purposes to be done.

A wise person is ignorant in many things, but never ignorant of ‘what God says about Himself or what He will do’. This is who Jesus wants me to be—to be wise beyond my years.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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