Get Wisdom

What are you getting for Christmas this year?

Get Wisdom

This week's devotions are written by my son, Bryant Forshee, Lead Student Pastor for Cross Church, Springdale, AR campus.

- Pastor Danny

"Get wisdom—how much better it is than gold! And get understanding—it is preferable to silver."

(Proverbs 16:16, CSB)

December 4, 2023: that is today's date, and if you are like me, you are wondering, "WHERE IN THE WORLD DID 2023 GO?!" Maybe the all caps was a little much, but you get the point; it is crazy to think that we are already in December! And with December comes all things Christmas. If you are one of those people who avoid Christmas music until December, I applaud you. If you are one that has been rocking Christmas music since November 1, I also applaud you. The ones I don't applaud are the Christmas music year-round people... I just don't understand that. It's supposed to be part of this special season! With Christmas music playing all around, colder weather settling in, and advent calendars counting down the days until December 25, a common question that you will hear is, "What are you getting for Christmas?"

This question can be an encouraging and daunting one, because you either know exactly what you want and have a typed out list (shout-out to my wife Kyndall), or you have no idea what you want, and you say something different every time someone asks you that question (shout-out to me). In this crazy holiday season, what if one of the biggest things you get is Wisdom? Now, wisdom does not make the top ten of most Christmas wish lists, but I think our verse for the day helps put it into proper perspective.

Proverbs 16:16 says, "Get wisdom - how much better it is than gold! And get understanding - it is preferable to silver." Since this proverb tells us very plainly to get wisdom and understanding, what would be some benefits of getting wisdom this Christmas season? Let me name just a few:

Wisely and virtuously handling the craziness of Christmas shopping
Wisely managing and balancing your budget, even with all the extra purchases of the season
Successfully hiding Christmas presents from your children until the big day
Interacting lovingly with family members whom you will be seeing
Safely and virtuously dealing with all the traffic that will be on the roads
Patiently managing the kids who are now home on winter break
Knowing when and how best to share the Gospel with someone during the Christmas season

Those are just seven examples of how getting wisdom and understanding during this busy Christmas season will massively benefit you and those around you. In James 1:5-6, God says this about wisdom: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." Wisdom is readily available to whoever asks for it and does not doubt they will get it. Isn't that beautiful? Besides asking God for wisdom, another great way to get wisdom is to be in God's word. Maybe this month, read a Proverb a day! Proverbs is wisdom literature, so be a student of Proverbs this Christmas season. I think we would all agree that we could use more wisdom!

So, this Christmas season, be a wisdom-getter!