Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding. Proverbs 23:23 (NIV)
The commercial countdown began weeks ago, and today advertisements urge: “Only forty shopping days until Christmas!” In other words, spend! Buy! Get ready!
Forty days has often been a special period for God’s people. Jesus Himself fasted and prayed in the desert forty days before beginning His ministry. Although I can’t take off to a desert, the coming weeks provide precious opportunity to do some spiritual spending and the Bible gives an interesting shopping list: truth, wisdom, discipline and understanding.
During this hectic season, what I need to seek as doggedly as I search the stores or the Internet for those “perfect gifts” of toys, books and clothing is God’s wisdom. It seems no coincidence that discipline is next on the list. Too often I’ve seen a connection between lack of discipline in my life and a shortage of understanding how to love God and the people around me. This Advent I want to establish a small discipline of taking a few quiet moments each day to think about Jesus, the Wisdom of God.
Who is He? Who can He be for me? Even in this busy time, God wants to come to me in the midst of my everyday life. Moses was busy going about his daily work, tending sheep on Mount Horeb, when he came upon an incredible sight: the Angel of the Lord appearing in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush.
Moses’ response? “I will now turn aside and see this great sight . . . ” (Exodus 3:3, NKJV).
God, a consuming fire, comes as an infant in a virgin’s womb! Forty days isn’t enough even to begin to ponder His appearance, but I want to try—to turn aside and gaze on Him a bit more each day.
Lord, help me to acquire Your wisdom and better understand Who You are.
