Proverbs 19:20 (NKJV) Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days.
Be assured, for the sake of illustrating today’s commentary and not of self promotion, I tell you, I am an accomplished and confident archer and bow hunter. Since I was a child, I have been deeply enthralled by the outdoors. Over the subsequent years I refined my skills in the outdoors, through experience. Success, as well as failure and study were my primary tudors. Nearly two decades ago, I began to combine that accumulated knowledge of woodcraft with a pursuit of archery and bow hunting. With each passing season, my skills improve, and the scope of my knowledge deepens.
Why do you presume that is? What promotes this growth season after season, year after year? Experience? Sure, it’s a grand teacher. Success teaches you what to duplicate, failure instructs you on what not to. Reading? Absolutely. I read and study literature from a litany of sources, some good, some bad. I try to find some common ground between them, experiment and decide what works for me and what doesn’t. Conversation? That’s a tremendous resource. Second, I believe, only to personal experience. Vastly increasing with my entry into the professional side of the industry, I make use of every opportunity to commune with like minded enthusiasts, gleaning any thing and everything that I can.
Are you starting to see the road I’m headed down? Is the process to the goals starting to come into focus? My growth, be it in woodsmanship, archery or bowhunting, is the the result of a process, a desire to mature and develop, to learn. It’s a quest for wisdom. It is a willingness to humble myself, seek and listen to counsel and receive instruction. It’s saying, “Scott, you don’t know the half of it. Do you want to?”
Wisdom is a gift, granted by God, for those willing to say, “I don’t know, teach me?” Solomon figured that out, and asked. James tells us in chapter 1 verse 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.” Wisdom is a gift bestowed upon us, but requires action on our part. We must recognize our lack of it, ask for it and be willing to receive it.
I used my progression as a bowhunter to illustrate, but apply it to any, every facet of your life. Solomon knew it’s importance, choosing it, without hesitation, above any gift imaginable. What could your relationships with family, friends, coworkers and the community become with an ever increasing abundance of wisdom? What would your finances look like, how would your career be altered. What heights could you reach if you were willing to say, “I don’t know, teach me God”? How great could your knowledge and understanding of God, His heart and His desire for you become? How much could God use men and women of this ilk? Have a glorious weekend, and learn something!
In full pursuit of the greatest Trophy,
Scott Pace
