How to Live Wisely

Introduction

The Bible describes us as sheep.

And do you know why the Bible describes us as sheep?

It’s because we are really good at getting off the path that has been clearly marked for us.

It’s because we are really good at falling for distractions.

It’s because we blatantly ignore God even though we know He is the one Who leads us..

and it’s because we are prone to compromise on everything that we do.

That’s why the Bible describes us as sheep.

Joshua, by all accounts, was a wise and strong leader.

What is wisdom exactly?

Some say that wisdom is practical knowledge grounded in experience. Other say that wisdom is recognizing the underlying order in the universe and learning to live with it. Still, others say that wisdom means to have skill that can be applied…

But I want to say that wisdom is far more than all of those things.

Wisdom is a person, and His name is God.

Colossians 2:2–3 NKJV

that your hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

That is, very simply, that God’s people, those that have His Holy Spirit in them, have access to the perfect knowledge and the perfect wisdom that God offers us.

And so here we are in Joshua 9, even though Joshua has the capacity to live wisely, he doesn’t do it.

Joshua is approached by some men here in the land of Canaan. These are men that God has called them to destroy, but they are coming as neighbors. They are coming as friends…

And what Joshua does isn’t wise. Even though he knew that something wasn’t right, he chose to ignore the warning signs and behaved unwisely. He makes a covenant with people that he had no business interacting with.

Therefore, tonight…

I want to talk to you tonight about how we can live wisely.

I. Recognize Distractions

God had given them a task to complete, and they were supposed to rid Canaan of everyone that was living there. And the reason that they are now distracted is because what looks like an opportunity has approached them.

What Joshua didn’t do was stop and ask how this alliance would help him accomplish what God has called Him to do.

We get like this all the time…we are impulsive. We don’t really need the opportunity, but because it presents itself we convince ourselves that we might as well take it!

But, just because there is an opportunity doesn’t mean that it’s a blessing. Many times opportunities are just a distraction from doing what God has called us to do.

Such is the case here in Joshua 9, what Joshua thought was going to make his life easier, actually makes it harder.

And what we can glean from these opening 13 verses is how we can recognize distractions and avoid them.

A. Knowing Your Calling

Joshua 9:3–6 NKJV

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”

These men are trying to trick Joshua. It is an opportunity that is too good to pass up.

Joshua is at war with all of these people in Canaan and now he finally has some allies that are going to come and be by his side.

But there’s just one problem…these men aren’t from a place far away, they are just pretending.

Everything they said appeared True

I think Benjamin Franklin said it best when he said, “Half a truth is often a great lie.”

We are, as I preached this morning, in a place and in a time when truth is under attack. And things are getting so foggy, that what is obviously not true is so dressed up that we are beginning to have a hard time distinguishing what’s true and what’s untrue.

And when we take things at face value without running them through God’s wisdom, we are at risk of being distracted.

How Does this Apply?

There are certain things that God has tasked you to do in your personal life and you cannot get distracted running after every opportunity that presents itself.

There is something Godly about being focused and driven to do exactly what God has called you to do with allowing things that seem like good opportunities cloud your wisdom and your vision.

It works the same way in the church.

There are going to be times that there is something that comes along and it is going to seem like a great opportunity, but it may not be what God wants us to do.

I know that many church’s begin to fight and bicker because what could be done is not what should be done…and the people that are focusing too much on what could be instead of what should be become disgruntled, there comes all kinds of divisions, and then we fall apart.

So, in our church and in our life, we have to know what our calling is and not get distracted by incidentals and every opportunity that presents itself.

What Has God Called our Church to?

Well, I know that generally God has called our church to do what every other church ought to be doing.

1. To Make Disciples

Matthew 28:19 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

So many times we get caught up in trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus on a humanitarian level, that we neglect our first and greatest commission, and that is to make disciples.

So many times we get caught in up in the best policies and procedures that we neglect our first and greatest commission.

And so many times we get caught up in the best design or color scheme that we forget our first and greatest commission.

As the old expression goes, instead of letting the dog wag the tail we tend to let the tail wag the dog.

Everything that we do must be done with express intent of winning lost souls to Jesus Christ and maturing the saints.

If it doesn’t do that, then it’s simply a distraction.

2. To be a Pillar of Truth

1 Timothy 3:15 NKJV

but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

We are not a social club gathering for the sake of having a good time. We are a people that gather together to celebrate perfect truth.

Jesus says that He is the way and the truth and the life. When make everything we do about the worship and the exaltation of Jesus we become a pillar of truth in our community.

Not only do we express the truth when we gather to worship, but that is why teaching and preaching are so necessary to the function of the church.

I could not, in good conscience, ever take place on this stage and not declare anything but solid and plain truth to you. If I were to do anything other than that I would consider myself to be a man that is distracted by opportunity instead of focused on God’s calling.

3. To be a House of Prayer

Mark 11:17 NKJV

Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

And how is it that we act as a den of thieves today? Instead of coming to pray and to exalt God, we come to receive a blessing.

But the primary reason why we gather together is not to receive a blessing, but we gather together to be strengthened and realigned with God so that we can and be a blessing to others.

We are to come empty before God, and we are to gather together to seek Him in prayer. This is a place where the people of God ought to band together in prayer and ask God to show us His will and His glory.

If you want to really know and experience the presence of God in your life, take advantage of your time here and pray to God. Ask Him to open your eyes and ask Him to renew your spirit.

We have gotten so distracted with doing the worship service right that we barely have a worship service at all!

If our services are not bathed in prayer then they are more of a distraction than they are a solution.

To recognize what a distraction is, we have to know our calling as people and as a church.

B. Asking the Hard Questions

Joshua 9:7–8 NKJV

Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?” But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

You know, there was something that didn’t sit right with Joshua. There was a reason that he was suspicious, and it was because he knew deep down inside that this was a distraction and that this wasn’t the right thing to do.

And when he felt that uneasiness, he did the appropriate thing and he began to ask the hard questions.

How can we know what questions to ask?

1. We Must Be Aware of Our Enemy

Joshua has a military mind...so naturally he could see that these men were spies and that they were coming under false pretenses.

This didn’t stop Joshua from making the wrong decision, but it did cause him to pause.

Why?

Because Joshua, in his mind, understood the tactics of battle.

The Bible describes our enemy like this:

Ephesians 6:12 NKJV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

That is, our battle is not against other men, but our battle is against what controls other men and what moves other men to commit evil.

But it extends beyond that, because as people of God we can be attacked in ways that affect us internally as well.

I’m not saying that other don’t suffer, but I am saying that we have an enemy that is actively working against us.

The Bible says that his name is satan, and the Bible says that he is the father of lies.

John 8:44 NKJV

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

We must be aware that there is an enemy that wants us to be distracted.

We must be aware that our enemy will spare no truth, he will spare no feeling, and he will spare no relationship trying to tear you down.

We must be aware of our enemy.

2. We Must Know our Ally

The only way for us to properly discern who is on our side and which direction we ought to go is to be so closely aligned with truth that we can smell and untruth a mile away.

PAWN STARS

I used to love watching that tv show Pawn Stars on the history channel.

And the reason I liked watching it was to see all the stuff that people brought in.

If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s a show about a famous pawn shop in Las Vegas, and people from all over would bring in random and unique pieces of history and try to sell it to this pawn shop.

Well, the interesting part of the show was when they would start bargaining back and forth, and try to come up with a price.

Let’s just say for example that someone brought in something they believed was from WWI, and they would say to the store owner, “I want $20,000 for it”.

But before they would agree on a price, almost every time the owner of the shop would say, “I’ll have to bring in an expert.”

Well, that expert would come and he would start looking all over that item, and he would either validate it or he would tear it down. If it was real, the owner would pay a lot of money. If it was fake, they usually didn’t make a deal.

But the point is, the reason that an expert was called is because the expert knew everything there was to know about things from WWI.

And because he knew the authentic WWI designs, he could spot a fake in just a few short minutes.

Church, when we walk closely with the Lord, and we know His word, and we live in obedience to Him, it may not be that we know every evil thing that is out there, but what we can do is start identifying things that are wrong in just a few short minutes!

In this story, Joshua ignored one of the greatest truths of life, and that is if something smells bad, it’s because it stinks.

Joshua should have gone with his instinct, but instead he got distracted and messed up.

To Recognize distractions you must know your calling, you must ask the hard questions….

C. Test the Spirits

This is where your knowledge of the truth will shine. This is where you will discover how closely you walk with God’s truth.

1 John 4:1–3 NKJV

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Now, these men from Gihon are going to invoke the name of God.

But they aren’t interested in serving God, they’re interested in survival.

And the point is that just because something or someone presents themselves as a friend of God doesn’t mean that they are.

Joshua 9:9–13 NKJV

So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”

Isn’t it interesting that every politician is deeply connected to their faith?

Isn’t it interesting that every car salesman you’ve had is a reverent Christian who wants you get you the best deal possible?

Oh how convenient.

Church, this world is quick to invoke the name of God to accomplish what they want to accomplish, but that does not mean that they are living in truth.

We must be careful where our allegiance lies.

If we want to walk wisely, we must first and foremost learn to recognize distracitons…

II. Align with God

This is the issue with all of us and this includes Joshua…that we simply don’t take the time to slow down and make sure that what we are doing is what God wants us to do.

And I’m not talking in some kind of overly spiritual abstract way, I am talking about slowing down enough to seek the face of God each and everyday and to be sure that we are aligned with Him in every area of our life.

The distraction has come, and Joshua has asked the hard questions to determine if this opportunity is even worth considering…what he does next is logical and it’s smart…

A. Examined the Evidence

Joshua 9:14 NKJV

Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions

The men said, “See here? Our bread is moldy and our clothes are worn!”

So, the men of Isreal did the next logical thing, they took those provisions and they began to examine them.

Don’t Confuse Man’s Wisdom with God’s

It’s not wrong for us to examine the evidence. In fact, God’s word tells us plainly that we should consider all things.

Proverbs 14:15 NKJV

The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps.

Proverbs 18:13 NKJV

He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.

That is, it’s wise and it’s noble to sit and to think through something before you just run off and get it done…

But even though the examined the evidence, this is where they failed…

B. Compare the Evidence to God’s Word

Joshua 9:14 NKJV

Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.

Now God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that we couldn’t come to the correct conclusions on our own. So what He did was give us His word, and what He has now done is He has given us His Spirit. Thus, these are the two ways that we can make decisions based on God’s word.

Psalm 119:105 NKJV

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

That is, there are some things that are for immediate decisions like a lamp that guides us one step at a time…and there are other truths in God’s word that help us have a firm grasp on reality so that we don’t deviate from the path that He has us on.

1. Plain Truth

There are some Bible verses that give us plain truth and flat out tell us what’s good and bad.

Exodus 20:15 NKJV

You shall not steal.

That’s pretty simple…don’t take things that don’t belong to you.

You might have some liberal theologians out there that say, “Well, what that actually means is…”

Well what it actually means is don’t take other people’s stuff.

And I don’t need to go into great detail about all the other plain truths that God gives us…well because they’re obvious.

2. God’s Principles

There are some situations in life where things become a little more difficult.

But even in this, when we consult God’s word and when we know God’s word, we can understand how to get these things done based on the principles that God has given us.

Rules v. Principles

A rule, by definition, is something that is concrete and specific and it doesn’t leave any room for interpretations.

A principle is a permanent, never changing truth that can be applied to any situation at any time.

For instance, it may not be a rule that you can’t wear a tuxedo when you go to the beach, but it’s probably not the most comfortable way for you to enjoy your trip…

So, what a principle does, is it takes what is already true according to God’s word and then applies that to different situations so that we achieve the best result.

This is not what Joshua did. Joshua and the men from Israel neglected to consult with God, and they made a decision based on how they understood things, and it was a mistake.

So, to align with God, we must examine the evidence, compare that evidence to God’s word…

C. Make the Best Decision.

Joshua 9:15 NKJV

So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

Joshua made a decision, it just wasn’t the right decision…and it certainly wasn’t the best decisions.

Now, there are all kinds of circumstances that we come across when there are a lot of good options and a lot of good choices to be made, and sometimes there are decisions we have to make where it seems like nothing good will come.

That’s why it’s important for us to know that God’s wisdom and God’s principles allow us to make the best decision.

How can we be sure to make the best decision when it seems like there are more than one right decisions?

1. Prioritize Effectively

Now, some things in life are very sensitive. And other things in life are very sentimental. And when we allow how we feel to determine how we act or the course of action that we take, we are always running the risk of making a right choice for the wrong reasons.

The reason that we do things like that so often is because we fail to prioritize.

Instead of having things in our life that we refuse to compromise on, we try to make everything a priority. and when everything becomes a priority, nothing gets the priority.

In your personal life you must learn to prioritize according to God’s word, and then base your decisions on those priorities, regardless of how it hard it may seem.

2. Seek Godly Counsel

Godly counsel does mean seeking God’s word, but it also means asking people who know God’s word.

We’re not always quick to ask for help. And even when we do actually ask for help, we’re not good at listening because the advice that we got isn’t easy to follow.

So, just remember this when you go and ask a Godly and a wise person their advice, they aren’t going to tell you what you want to hear, but they’re going to tell you what you need to hear.

Most of time we only ask people for advice when we know they’re going to give us the advice that we want. But the advice that we want isn’t the advice that we always need.

Instead of asking someone to validate you in your thinking, you need to ask someone that will challenge you in your thinking.

3. Follow Through

I’ve discovered that doing the right thing involves a lot of sacrifice and that it’s not easy, and in the beginning it’s really not easy.

But, if you have sought the word of God, if you have sought Godly counsel, if you have prioritized effectively, there is no choice now but to follow through on what you know is right.

To do anything else is to neglect to make the best choice.

To live wisely, recognize distractions, align with God….

III. Never Compromise

When we compromise on our calling and on our priorities, it will come out and we will see the result of our lack of wisdom.

A. The Compromise Revealed

Joshua 9:16 NKJV

And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them.

When you make a bad choice, and when you consistently live a life that involving unwise choices, it will eventually catch up to you.

You think that you can outrun your bad decisions but you can’t. The only path back is to acknowledge your failure and then staying free from it in the future.

B. Compromise and the Responsible Party

Joshua 9:18 NKJV

But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

This is a leadership principle, that the blame always falls on the responsible party, and the responsible party is always the leader.

Now let me ask you a question…

Who is the leader of your life? Don’t blame God…you’re the leader of your life. God made us with the freedom to choose. If our life continues to be shrouded in chaos and dissatisfaction, we always need to begin by examining the leader.

Therefore, since you’re the leader of your own life, you ought to always begin asking what you could have done differently in any given situation.

I know this, that in some of the hardest and most dreadful moments of my life, and even if some things weren’t my fault and outside of my control, there were still things that I could have done that would have made things end differently.

C. Compromise is Permanent

Joshua 9:19 NKJV

Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them.

Joshua 9:21 NKJV

And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.”

Joshua 9:27 NKJV

And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, in the place which He would choose, even to this day.

When we compromise on God’s word, and when we compromise on our priorities, the effects will be permanent.

What seemed so easy in the beginning will prove to be a thorn in the side.

Just as we see here, what God clearly commanded Joshua to destroy will be the cause of their next great battle. In Joshua 10, we see Israel engaged in battle because of the oath that they made to their enemies.

When we do things that God tells us we ought not do…when we live a life that settles for making good choices and don’t strive to make the best choices…when we fail to prioritize and we aren’t true to what we know is true…then the effects are permanent, and we end up fighting battles that God never intended for us to fight.

Conclusion

We are God’s people.

And we exist together in relation to one another through the church.

This is a very important principle for us to know and to learn, that we must carry ourselves wisely.

In our personal life and in the church, we have to recognize distractions…we must always align ourselves with God…and we must never compromise on who God has called us to be.

We are disciple makers…we are the pillar of truth…we are a people of prayer…and to be anything less than that is to live without the proper priority.

Do You Need to Be Saved?

The world and sin has distracted you from the truth that you need to repent and follow Jesus as your savior.

You will never be able to live by or apply godly wisdom unless you have Jesus in your heart…

If you desire a relationship with Jesus today…then pray like this…