Can you believe it my friend, we are almost half way through 2013 already? I know that many of you have heard this said so many times before: ‘The older I get, the faster the days and years go by.’ Now let me ask, how many of you are saying that right now?

This month, on May 27th, I will be turning 65!!! Wow, I remember when I was much younger, anyone who said they were 65 sounded so old to me, and they were. Now that I am knocking at the door of 65, it doesn’t sound all that bad; in fact it doesn’t sound all that old. (funny how that happens isn’t it) My wife has been helping me get signed up for Medicare, now that I am turning 65. When I was young Medicare was a word that was used only for those who were at death’s door. Actually, I probably feel better and stronger now at almost 65 than I did at 25, or I surely want to believe so. Yet if I were to be honest, (and it is always good when a pastor is honest, right) now that I’m almost 65 I am a bit slower and I find that my aches and pains seem to take longer to heal. Yet I still amaze a lot of the young men at the gym at how much I can lift. You know what they say, ‘don’t let this grey hair fool you.’  

I always though by the time I reached 65, if I was fortunate to do so, that I would have enough money stored away for a comfortable retirement; not so. There were many other things I thought I would have accomplished when I reached 65 and some have come to pass but many have not. Two things I can confidently say I have at this age is that I have the most beautiful, wonderful, Godly wife any man could have and two of the most wonderful Godly children any parent could ask for, and I give the Lord all the glory for that for I surely don’t deserve them.

Though those are very good things for any Christians to say they have at the age of 65, yet the greatest thing any Christian man or woman who reaches 65 could really have is wisdom. Proverbs 4:5-7 “Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget My words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Proverbs 3:13 “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies, nothing you desire can compare with her.” James 1:5-6 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

There are a lot of super smart, super intelligent people in this world; most of whom many of us could not even hold a conversation with. There are a lot of people in this world who always seem to know exactly what to do in any situation. There are a lot of people in this world who we would say have tremendous street smarts or wisdom. There are people in this world who have the amazing knack of knowing how to make money. Yet the wisdom the Scripture is speaking about, trumps all these examples and much more.

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Though there are many so-called wise people in this world, without the Lord they are nothing short of ignorant; fools. Proverbs 1:7 ” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but ‘fools’ despise wisdom and discipline.”  

I have been walking with the Lord for over 38 years and one would think that by now I would have a great amount of wisdom and in some ways I do, but I need much more. You see, I am not so sure I fear the Lord enough in some of the areas of sin in my life for if I did I wouldn’t allow the enemy to be so quick to cause me to fall back into those weakness. I know the Lord is a gracious and forgiving but as the writer of Proverbs says, discipline comes with disobedience and though I don’t like it, I surely deserve it, but I know the Lord still loves me with an unfailing love.

The Lord is not impressed with how many Scriptures we can quote, He’s impressed with how many are lived out in our lives and are hidden in our hearts. The Lord is not impressed with how big a church one may build or how many souls we have brought into His kingdom; He’s impressed when we are faithful to love one another.

The writer of Proverbs said ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’ I may know a few things but surely not everything and I never will but since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, I know I’m getting there; sometimes slow and banged up, but I’m getting there. What about you my wise friend 🙂