How to Live with Wisdom
The world is full of ways to grow in knowledge. We can learn from schools, books, documentaries, or other means. But more important than gaining knowledge is growing in wisdom.
Scripture also says that true wisdom begins with God. While there are many people on earth who are smart, real wisdom—in God's eyes—begins with our relationship with Him. God is perfect in truth and knowledge, so all wisdom must begin with Him.
Those who live with true wisdom will be a bright light for God in a dark world. How we act and speak matters. Though we cannot be perfect on this side of heaven, we are representatives for God to the rest of the world—so it's important that we act wisely and strive to honor Him.
One aspect of living wisely is pursuing righteousness. Righteousness is living in accordance with God’s law and God's ways. When we live according to God’s Word, we are living in accordance with His design for our lives.
Jesus says that people will know that we are His disciples by the way we love others (John 13:35). That means that loving others is living according to God’s Word. And by loving God and loving others, we will point others to Jesus.
This is why Jesus compares us to a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, and a light in the darkness (Matthew 5:14). Daniel 12:3 explains that as we live wisely and righteously, we will shine bright like stars in the darkness.
The way we live, think, and act matters. Those are the primary ways that other people will see the love God has for them.
So consider your own life. Think of ways you can live in accordance with God’s Word. Write down one or two ways that you can shine the light of Jesus today by loving others in tangible ways.
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, ...
Fulfillment of God’s Promises
Hundreds of years before Jesus, the people of God were in trouble.
They were stuck in life, unable to help themselves, and perhaps beginning to doubt that God would save them. Have you ever felt the same way? If so, you might relate to the original audience of this verse—the exiles in Babylon.
The Babylonians conquered God's people and land, sending them hundreds of miles away. Maybe they thought that God had abandoned them, or that He couldn’t hear their cries. But God is always close—especially when His people call on His name.
Isaiah let his people know that God would provide a way out of Babylonian captivity. And God kept His promise, allowing His people to return home.
Generations later, many of God’s people saw themselves as being in a new exile. They were home, but all was not well. So they remembered this verse and its promise—that no matter how dark or desperate our situation might be, God is able to provide a path out of brokenness, ...