Words to the Wise

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

-- James 1:5

What’s the best advice that your father ever gave you?

That’s the question Real Simple once posed to its readers. Here are a few of the savvy responses that the magazine received:

• If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
• Never try to solve problems at night. They always seem worse than they do in the morning.
• You don’t have to answer the phone just because it rings.
• Life is better when you have a good time … and bring someone along for the ride.

Heeding good advice — whether it’s from a parent, a friend or even a

total stranger — can save us from considerable pain, heartache or much worse. So it’s good to know that the Bible is full of sage counsel from wise, God-centered people who traveled the proverbial road of life centuries before our time. And their words to us today are not only insightful, relevant and trustworthy, they’re inspired by our Creator.

It’s the wise Christ-follower who spends time in prayer and studies God’s word. That’s because it’s when we take his messages to heart that we begin a transformation into the men and women he wants us to be. And eventually, we mature enough in our faith that he shows us glimpses of his reality. Like an inquisitive child who’s finally learned a lesson or two the hard way, it’s then that we begin to see through new eyes.

Unfortunately, our learning curve is broad. But our Father fully understood this limitation even before he created the world. So to help us understand, he had to fully reveal himself by putting a mortal face on the divine. He lived out the human experience in the form of Jesus Christ — even if his people didn’t recognize him at the time.

“Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” Jesus once asked his inquisitive disciple. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Jesus’ comments were a simple answer to humanity’s ultimate question. If we want to know the who-what-where and why of God, we first need to know Christ — the One he’s already sent to us. Because the more we know and experience the Son, the more we’ll know and experience the Father.

That’s wise advice that we should both accept and live out. After all, he’s our Father, too. And he knows us best.