The divine mentor: lesson two

Knowledge is nothing! All the book smarts in the world don't really matter if they can't be applied practically. 

How many unbelievably "bright" people do you know that are unable to figure their way out of a paper bag? Yeah, I know a few too...

But that's life. Gaining knowledge is not the be-all, end-all. How many people do you know who graduate college and start as the CEO of a  company? None, unless they're starting their own business.

Getting to the "top" requires discipline and wisdom. Many times it requires a  mentor to show us the ropes. In certain situations, the ropes may even be a minefield. So let me ask the question: would you rather walk blindly through a minefield or would you rather be taken by the hand and led through by someone who has already been there and survived? 

Life offers us 2 basic yet essential sets of teachers. Wisdom and Consequences.  Discipline and Regret. Each set stands ready to bring us through life.  In the end, we are left with either a Life or a Legacy. Thankfully, God has provided us with many mentors to help guide us through life in the pages of Holy Scripture.

Before we even look toward the finish line, let's look at these sets of teachers.

Wisdom and Consequences. That almost sounds like the title for a game show. And this sort of is. My favorite board game growing up was "Life". The interesting part about it was that aside from making "right" choices all through the game, you especially had to make certain "career" choices at the first spin. College or vocation? How far to go in college? Were you willing to take chances with investments? All of the usual aspects of life. Even in the game of "Life" you needed a certain amount of "wisdom" or you would face the consequences.

And that's exactly how the "real" game of Life works. Except that it's not a  game. Real people and real consequences are involved. Lives are at stake.

First, let's define these two terms. Consequences are just that: you do something and something else happens (literally with - "con" -  sequences, one after another). Depending on what the first thing done is, can reap rewards or trials. Bad or wrong decisions can have us "paying" for them for a long time. Some of those decisions can even be life-altering wreaking havoc for not only our life but others as well.  There is collateral damage. But not all consequences are bad. Some are good. We make the right choice at the right time. We invoke "luck" into the equation and are satisfied. 

Then there's Wisdom. Wisdom is a truly awesome thing. There are some people who are "smart". Bully for them. But then there are those who are wise. They may be young or old; it doesn't really matter. God puts the words of wisdom sometimes into a youngster's mouth. Heck, if God can speak through a donkey (Numbers 22:22 - 33), He can speak through a child. But for the most part, wise people are those who have been around the block a couple of times. You rarely find them rushing through anything.  

Whatever they do is deliberate. How many times have we seen or heard the cliche story of the Fortune 500 CEO who secretly meets with the 4th-floor janitor on a weekly basis for guidance? That's not far from the truth. That janitor has seen how many people act or react. He's seen what's in the trash. He's that "fly on the wall." Then there's the barber or hairdresser who never says too much but is steady and polite and does their work, and then retires at 50 with a condo in Florida, a vacation home in Aspen with a wad of cash from proper investing.

Wisdom requires patience. Wisdom requires watching and listening. Wisdom utilizes knowledge and prudence. Wisdom takes what others have done or are doing, weighs it against the current situation, and makes a decision.

Thankfully, God has provided much wisdom to us in His Word. The books of Job,  Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are not called "wisdom literature" for nothing! What should a young man do? Heed "his father's instructions and do not forsake [his] mother's teaching," Proverbs 1:8 and following.  What to do about finances, or combating laziness, or life in general are found in the book of Proverbs. 

Chasing after the "good life"? Read Ecclesiastes. Solomon will be happy to reel you back in. Solomon had lots of stuff; tangible (wealth, wives, luxury) and intangible  (knowledge, standing, respect). But in the end, he found it was all for naught because his relationship with God had been left behind at some point and his life, however "wonderful" it was, was a mess.

Do you have a spouse who is in a "mid-life" crisis and has walked away from  God for a time? What do you do? How do you love him or her? Take a cue from the prophet Hosea.

God offers us all of the Wisdom we will ever need to navigate this life. We only need to open His Word and allow His people, His mentors, to come alongside us to show us the way through the minefield.

The next set of teachers are Discipline and Regret. These are hard teachers; they're tough.

Discipline is just that; it's a Discipline. We have to make regular time and effort to make something good or worthwhile. One job that I absolutely HATE is bookkeeping. I hate bookkeeping but I have a BS in Accounting  (that's Bachelor of Sciences... let's not get funny). I know how to do it, but I hate doing the work. I would rather pay someone to do it, rather than do it. There are some aspects of it that only I can do, so guess what? I  have to hunker down and get it done. Once it's done, I can rid myself of some of the Regret that I may have had. But that's the practical, this lifetime application. I'm sure you have your own struggles with Discipline.

What we're really after is the Discipline that will count toward Eternity.  Getting to know God personally takes time and effort. It takes  Discipline. That's why we should be calling ourselves - if we truly want to follow Jesus - Disciples. We walk according to His Word by being in constant contact with it. You're thinking, "geez Ron, how do I do that? I  mean I've got a job and family and, you know maybe if I was a minister  or priest or Sunday school teacher I could but..." What I mean, and by extension, Cordeiro refers to is as we apply ourselves to daily Bible reading and meditation on His Word, His Words get into us (thank you, Howard Hendricks). 

In his letters, the Apostle Paul calls men and women to teach one another Godly principles; especially Titus 2. The Holy Spirit brings back to our minds and tongues certain passages that we read or re-read. We find ourselves during the day looking back on that passage read the night before or at lunch time or in the quiet of the morning. We ask, in the quiet of our hearts, "God what do I do about...?"  

Having the Discipline to learn about and know God now will only enhance our time with Him in Heaven. God wants to teach us so much about Himself.  And like any good Father, He wants to make our lives now as prosperous and successful as possible. The only caveat is this: "according to His  Will." 

Not surprisingly, Discipline is something we have to work on. Anyone who knows me knows that I struggle with procrastination. Always have. One thing that I am finding as I mature in Christ is that spending time with God is not optional. Yes, there are days when I have to "will" myself to put aside the time, but ... 

All I can say is that I need to be with my Father every day. Where else do I go? Where else can I find not only solace in troubling times, but I find value in my life. Let's make a  deal between us: I'll pray that you will spend at least 15 minutes each day in God's Word if you'll pray the same for me. Deal? Deal.

The thing is, I don't want to live a life of Regrets. A lack of Discipline, coupled with not utilizing God's Wisdom, can lead to Regrets. We all have some Regrets. Bad outcomes in business or finances. Maybe instead of that extra laptop time at home "catching up with work", my relationship with my spouse or kids would be better. Maybe I should have been bold with that family member or friend who constantly spoke poorly of my Christian life, but has now died. Christ was never shared. Their lifestyle was never challenged. They go on to an eternity of horror and death.  That person has the ultimate Regret. They chose to not heed their Creator and Savior. They had none of God's Wisdom and they certainly didn't practice His Discipline. 

Jesus said it best, of course, in Matthew 11:29 - 30: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In the end, it's about Life and Legacy. We can either live a "life", we can play the game of life and go through the motions of getting by every day or we can live abundantly. If we're  just living life, we'll most likely look back and ask "so what?" 

I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty hollow. God didn't create me -  or YOU - to live hollow and shallow lives. He created us to live full and abundant lives; rich and overflowing with Him - John 10:10. 

Living a Legacy is a two-way street. As believers in Jesus Christ, followers and disciples of God, we are an integral part of God's "legacy". We have chosen to come alongside His people of long ago. We have allowed David or Martha or Mary or Moses or Esther or Timothy or Paul or especially Jesus to come near and mentor us as we travel this life. Their stories and their words have encouraged us when we were low. They coached us through a struggle. They showed us there was hope when only hopelessness was apparent. 

The stories of their Lives and Legacies transcend the centuries. God has allowed them to "shine" as a flashlight as we walk the darkened halls of life. They take us by the hand as we are about to enter a minefield that is a part of life with the sole purpose of making sure we make it all the way across. 

In the same way, we are to leave a Legacy behind us. Whether it's our kids or our neighbors or colleagues at work or the stranger standing in line with us at the Department of Motor Vehicles. How we live our lives, and the wake we leave behind can make a difference for Eternity. With those we are closest to, we are to mentor them and disciple them in the Faith just as we were - maybe even better. God wants our Faith to be generational.

One thing that my mom told me as a teen was that as the years go by, they will go by faster and faster. It will seem as if it is a blink or a  blur. Now a grandfather, and she a great-grandmother, her words ring true.

The time that God allotted me is slipping by much too fast. But God is always there for me. He wants me to live a life of Wisdom rather than of "bad" Consequences. He wants me to live a life of Discipline -  with His help - rather than a life full of Regrets. One of my mentors  put it this way: "Wisdom with Discipline produces Consequences without  Regrets." God wants me - and you - to Live a full and abundant Life, in  Him and to be part of His Legacy.