Pastor Granillo: Applied Wisdom

By PASTOR GRANILLO
Los Alamos

We all know that every day, life happens. It happens in our homes, in our work, with our relationships, in our school, with our health, with everything that we know—life happens. And as life happens we are forced to make decisions that we know will impact the rest of how life happens.

How often have we made a decision just hoping we don’t mess things up worse than they already are? None of us want to make bad decisions, but all too often we do; and so we seek wisdom in various places, hoping to find the secret to good decision making.

Wisdom is how we think our knowledge should be applied. Our experience in the world shapes a great deal of our wisdom. For the person who has known nothing but betrayal, wisdom may be to make decisions that protect them from the plots of others. For the person who has seen death, wisdom may be to make decisions that ensure survival. For the person who has witnessed mankind destroying things of beauty, wisdom may be to make decisions that protect the world from us.

How we view life and our purpose molds our wisdom. If our philosophies are generic or our purposes small, then the wisdom we apply to life will be likewise.

The apostle Paul writes in Colossians 1:9, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (NIV). This prayer is for true wisdom. It is for knowledge that is factual and true.

Not wisdom founded in our limited scope of being, but wisdom that pours out from the one God who spoke every one of us into existence. A wisdom that acknowledges the reality that there is one God who is the creator of heaven and earth, a God that loves creation so much that He wants every person to live a genuine and full life. It is a wisdom that says our Creator purposed us to live fully and to reflect His love and glory back into all of creation. It is a wisdom that will then change the way we apply our knowledge into life.

Every day we learn more and more about creation. Science is the beauty of discovering the absolute truth. However, if we don’t apply this knowledge in our life with the wisdom in which God created this truth, then our knowledge will become a curse instead of the blessing that God intended it to be. Knowledge without wisdom is useless. Knowledge with a false wisdom is dangerous.

The wisdoms we choose to use will dictate the outcome of our choices. We might think that we can approach life by simply saying, “God is irrelevant—or generic—and so long as we look out for each other and don’t cause any harm, our decisions will benefit us and others.”

The problem with this generic wisdom is that it depends upon us to know what ultimately benefits or hurts others; something we are simply not capable of understanding on our own. It is our deadly arrogance that convinces us otherwise.

If Godly wisdom is used, however, then our decisions will follow the proper course for which God intended. This wisdom gives us a clear focus of existence, so that every decision we make can be to intentionally move toward the goal. Yes, the goal of the Christian is to one day be in the presence of God, but more there is more than that.

The goal we are called to here and now is to seek holiness so that we can live a more authentic and full life. And we do this so that we can genuinely build others up and encourage them to live authentically as well. There is no greater form of love that one person can show another.

When life happens, what wisdom do you apply? Is it a wisdom that fits our cultural philosophy, or is it a wisdom that is founded in truth? Only the latter will benefit our reactions to life.

Wisdom says, “Whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:35-36 NIV).

To find out more about La Vista Church, or to hear this and other messages, visit www.lavistanaz.org or email me at raul@lavistanaz.org. Follow Pastor Raul on Twitter @RaulGranillo007

Please come join us as we fix our eyes on Jesus. We meet Sundays at 9 a.m. for Sunday school and 10 a.m. for worship. Everyone is welcome!

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