Wisdom...

'Teach us to realize the brevity of life,

      so that we may grow in wisdom.'

~Psalm 90:12 (NLT)

Wise.   A word that I often associate with men with long beards with a pipe, spouting pithy quotes that make everyone feel rather dumb.  

"This is my 'I know the answer to everything' look..."

But this is what the bible says: 

'The fear of the LORD

 is the beginning of wisdom,'

~Proverbs 9:10

I wonder if the the fear of the Lord has anything to do with the fact that He has control over the brevity of life.  Our Lord knows us intimately, including when we were created, and when we will die.  

Every week there is a horror story on how someone died.  We had three teenagers die in a  horrific car crash last year.  They were driving home from a theme park after a youth group event, around 10 at night.  A drunk and angry man ran a red light and smashed into them.  The driver survived but his best friend, girlfriend and another boy from his youth group died instantly.  These teenager's parents did not say goodbye to their children imagining that that was the last thing they would ever say to them again.  No one who dies in an accident is imagining that that day was the day they would meet their maker.  

Imagine for a minute that you knew without a doubt that you were going to die today.  How would that change your actions?  Would you take a little more time thinking about that cutting remark in response to your sibling/ parent/ friend/ partner? Would you take time to let people know that you love them? Would it perhaps produce more wisdom then you would  generally have?  The briefness of our days is something this world hates to think about.  We as Christians need to have the view that this day may be our last, and respond in wisdom. 

This is an ongoing battle for me.  So often it's easier to act like we have all the time in the world, that we have time to tell this person about Christ, that we have time to forgive that person, or ask forgiveness from that person.  That we'll have time.  Time is one of the few things we can not secure.  It is beyond our reach, beyond our control.  Praise God that he is the only one trustworthy enough to control our time. 

Remember the past, immerse yourself in the present, hope for the future my friends. 

God bless!