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Yesterday’s devotional touched on the issue of misapplication of wisdom, due to “misunderstanding”.

I quote the story here for the sake of those who are new.

“In a conversation with a computer hardware shop owner recently, he shared bitter experiences of how people bought his merchandise on credit, or borrowed money from him, but failed to pay.

Thinking his business could be in trouble, I advised him to try and stay clear off his business when lending to people. That way he could, at the least, keep his business running, and continue to lend his profit to the people. 

I later purchased some of his stuff; and when I asked him to give me discounts on the items, he decided to quote my words back to me saying,

“You told me not to give business money to anyone.”

I had to remind him, that I was not borrowing from him or buying on credit. I was simply asking for a discount; or negotiating.

He had totally misapplied the advice and wisdom I was sharing with him.

I have seen this so many times, but he was the first to overtly quote back my own words to me.”

Based on the story above, I decided to write on some of the pitfalls that lead to misapplication.

Today’s article will deal with misapplication due to “lack of readiness”.

 READ Luke 15:11-16

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.   And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. (Luke 15:11-16)

Beyond understanding, we also need to be ready to be able to apply wisdom shared with us. Without readiness, you will probably understand what the wisdom is about, but still misapply it. One stark example is driving. You can know, and understand the usefulness of a car, and how it can make your life very easy. But if you are not trained, and ready to drive, you cannot move that car. If you move it anyway, then the car that others use to improve their lives becomes a weapon of destruction; and a danger to your life and those of others.

In the scripture text we just read, the wealth the young man got became a danger to himself and his associates. I know of one young man whose elder brother died, and he suddenly became the custodian of the family wealth and lands. He got himself a Porsche Cayenne; and against advice from his wife, drove at breakneck speed, crashed into a parked truck, and died. He had angrily told the wife to go to the backseat earlier, when she complained about his speeding; so she and their child survived the crash!

The prodigal son definitely got the wisdom that wealth could change his life, and asked for it. But that wisdom led to his downfall!  The child in him was stronger than the wisdom he had about the wealth, and that showed clearly in how he dissipated the wealth to the extent that he did not even know it was getting finished, so he would ran back home; and for poverty descended on him so suddenly that he was reduced to levels below pigs!  

The tragedy is that I see a number of adults like that these days. I call them “stuck in their teens”. Most of these adults; mostly economically deprived when they were growing up; still behave like teenagers even though they are now grown adults! It is like they want to catch up with the life they never lived in their teens!

Thankfully, some grow out of it; but some don’t survive it; because they are like teenagers with freedom and economic power, but without the guidance and restrictions of parents! They are not emotionally ready for the wealth, and that becomes dangerous to their own wellbeing.

The laws of sovereign nations are normally drafted with a certain wisdom in mind; but put people who are not ready to lead in charge, and they would use the same laws that are meant to protect and improve lives of the citizens to oppress and suppress the citizens! In Isaiah 3:1-12, titled “Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem”(New King James Version), God said,

“I will give children to be their princes,
And babes shall rule over them.”  

If the almighty God gives babies as rulers to people He passes judgment on, then it is definitely disastrous to give power, wealth and wisdom resources to people who are not ready.

Jesus used the “Parable of the ten virgins”(Matthew 25:1-10) to illustrate the importance of readiness.

MEMORY VERSE

” And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “(Matthew 25:10)

QUESTIONS

1. Are you ready for the wisdom, opportunity and resources you are desiring?

2. If not, do you know it can be dangerous to you and others?

PRAYER TIP

God help us to be ready for all the wisdom, opportunity and resources we desire.

Written by:

BENNY MALM

For:

TESTIMONY DEVOTIONAL