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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1510913
B V O V : 2 9 but He won't force His way into our lives. Therefore, every day we have choices to make: Will we continue to be natural thinkers and operate like the world? Or will we seek God's ways of doing and being right and operate according to His wisdom? In the Bible, God makes it quite clear which is the smartest choice. He says it time and again: Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee (Proverbs 4:5–9). How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! (Proverbs 16:16). My son, if you will receive my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to skillful and godly Wisdom and inclining and directing your heart and mind to understanding [applying all your powers to the quest for it]; yes, if you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek [Wisdom] as for silver and search for skillful and godly Wisdom as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord and fi nd the knowledge of [our omniscient] God (Proverbs 2:1–5, AMPC). Notice all those verses are from the book of Proverbs. The Hebrew root from which the word Proverbs is derived means "to rule." It's the same root word used in Genesis 1:18 that says God made the lights of heaven to rule over the day and the night. In other words, the wisdom of God found in Proverbs—and indeed, in the entirety of the Bible—is to rule over our thoughts and actions. It's to govern our lives. Proverbs is a good book to study to quickly get a good foundation of the wisdom of God. It will tell you the wise thing to do in many di erent situations. If you get it in your heart, when you're faced with a problem, godly wisdom will come up in you and give you the direction you need. For that to happen though, you can't go for days on end without reading your Bible. You can't have a casual attitude toward it or just try to coast along on the Word you already know. You must continually put the Word fi rst place in your life. Seeking and Receiving Over the years, I've known a lot of people who have continued to put the Word fi rst place in their lives who are supernaturally blessed, living in the abundance of God, and still growing and increasing. But I don't know anybody who's experiencing that kind of abundant life without being dedicated to the Word. POINTS TO GET YOU THERE: 1 If you've received Jesus as Lord, you aren't of the world anymore; you've been born again into the kingdom of God. (Eph. 2:19) 2 God doesn't intend for you to spend your life just striving to meet your natural needs anymore like the world does. (Matt. 6:33) 3 Keep growing and walking in God's wisdom and you will keep going higher and higher in life. (Prov. 4:7-8) 4 Choose every day to spend time in the Word seeking the wisdom of God. (Prov. 16:16) 5 The wisdom of the world will fail you, but God's Word never will. (Isa. 55:11)