An Orderly Life

Intro

Show Home Improvement clip...

How many of you remember the show Home Improvement? I would imagine anyone over the age of 30 remembers this show.

I still watch it in re-runs when it is on. But on the show there was a character by the name of Wilson and he was the main character Tim’s neighbor.

Tim would often find himself in trouble of some kind and would go out to his yard where he would find Wilson on the other side of a fence. You never saw his face below his eyes.

But Wilson would often share a nugget of wisdom with Tim to help him face whatever situation he was struggling with.

What made it funny was rarely did Tim actually understand what Wilson was saying, and often times in an attempt to apply it, he would really botch what Wilson had told him.

It was comical, but in the end Tim would usually learn something along the way thanks to Wilson’s wise advice.

In the clip I showed you this morning, Wilson mentions that the first step for greatness is humbling yourself. In other words, you need to realize that in your on understanding you will making a fool out of yourself.

It isn’t until you realize that you don’t have all the answers and are willing to ask questions will you ever truly be wise.

And I think all of us want to be wise. Who wants to make foolish decisions? No one in their right mind would intentionally choose to make a mess of things. However, that is exactly what we do when we think we have all the answers.

And if people would just stop long enough and truly reflect, I think we would realize how few answers we really have.

But this is the great thing about being a follower of Jesus. We know we don’t have the answers, but we also know the one who does.

God has in his wisdom given us his word, the Bible along with the Holy Spirit to guide us through this life so that we can be wise people who make wise choices.

As we start the new year I thought it fitting to start a new series where we looking to the Bible each week at some of the more practical nuggets of wisdom found in its pages. More specifically the book of Proverbs.

The book of Proverbs for those that don’t know, is a collection of wise sayings from mostly King Solomon.

And each week as we progress through this series I want to look at one of these sayings and consider the practical areas of our life where God’s wisdom can shape and change how we live.

However I need to preface everything with this. Proverbs is not a book of promises. It is a book of wisdom. What do I mean by that?

There are things we are going to read that sometimes don’t happen the way it is described. For example, as we are going to read in a minute, being wise doesn’t always lead to a long life.

Or, sometimes righteous people suffer and wicked people prosper.

So if what we read isn’t always true then what is the point in reading it.

Because Proverbs is a book of wise principles that when applied, will often lead to good results.

In other words, making the right choices now, will have the natural consequences of good results down the road.

So no, these aren’t promises, they are principles that should guide our lives.

Power in the Text

Proverbs 3:1-6 NLT 1 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. 2 If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. 3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. 4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3 reminds us of the importance of remembering and keeping. We remember God’s commandments, and then we act on that remembrance.

Keeping God’s commands is a matter of life and death. We might say, “It’s too hard!” or “I’m too busy to follow God,” but doing so would be...

...like a lifeguard who remembers all the techniques to save someone from drowning but doesn’t act on that knowledge when the opportunity presents itself.

Remembering and keep God’s commandments, and life will be satisfying. Not in a sense that we get everything we could ever want, but satisfying in the sense that we are content.

verses 1-2 speak of a long, satisfying life. No one at the end of their life wants to look back and say, “Well, I wasted the time I had.” We all want the life that this proverb describes. And the key to that contentment is found in following God’s commands. God has commanded that we spend our time wisely

In the New Testament Pauls says it like this in...

Ephesians 5:15-17 NLT 15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

Big Idea/Why it Matters

What this proverb is really saying is that it is God’s will that we live a well-ordered life. But this can’t happen if we don’t have wisdom.

A wise, well-ordered life can be found in determining right priorities and putting those first in your life.

What is first in your life?

Is it keeping God’s word in your heart and living it out in your actions?

Or is it doing things your way because God’s ways don’t seem as fun or interesting to you?

Is it making sure to be kind and treat others well. To put them ahead of yourself?

Or is it to look out for number one and step over whoever I have to in order to get what I want?

Is is to spend time in prayer, learning to wait on God’s direction and will to be known to you?

Or is it to do what you want, even if that isn’t God’s plan for your life?

If you want to know what is most important to you, what is first in your life, all you have to do is look at what you spend the majority of your time and money on?

Part of living a wise, well-ordered life means that we understand the proper place that our possessions should have because we also understand the monopoly they can claim on our lives.

Proverbs 30:7–9 NLT 7 O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. 8 First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. 9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

The author here asks two things of God:

To be surrounded by truth (v. 7)

and to provide only what is needed (v. 8).

The author has a very interesting reason for the second request: “For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”’” (v. 9).

When our life is filled with our possessions or our pursuit of material gain, it becomes a little crowded for Jesus.

We buy large houses to fill with things. We post our possessions on social media for others to see. We have to own the newest and latest things.

I’m not saying it is wrong to have nice things, but we must always ask the question, where is Jesus in the midst of this life?

The reason so many people are chasing all the wrong things is because at the end of the day they are discontent with this life. Because when we ask the question, “how much is enough, the answer will always be, a little bit more.

And it is this discontentment that leads to some of the most foolish and unwise decisions a person can make.

The reason I started this series with this particular topic is because if we don’t get this, then none of the other things I want to talk about over the next several weeks are going to be beneficial to you.

Until you see the value in a wise, well-ordered life then you will continue to live with this unshakable sense of discontentment. Why?...

Application/Closing

Because at the heart of what I speaking about this morning, a wise, well-ordered life is a content life.

We live in a world that thinks it knows best. We have leaders who are anything but humble; making decisions that in their assessment are wise, but in in reality are quite foolish.

And if we aren’t careful, we will act the exact same way. Most people are happy to see 2021 end.

There is always this renewed sense of hope and optimism that comes with a new year that maybe this time things will be different.

The problem however is that we typically just keep doing things the same way we did them the year before and then act surprised with nothing changes.

The truth is, a new year means very little if you aren’t willing to do things differently.

Let’s choose to re-shape our priorities in 2022. Let’s make Godly wisdom our goal. Let’s make the right choices that lead to the right changes that will actually make our lives better in the new year.

The Bible describes Jesus as our daily bread. It is in an encounter with the living Jesus that we get a foretaste of complete contentment.

Jesus is all we need, and if we have him, we have more than enough. He has turned our poverty into riches; Jesus has redeemed our time.

In him, we have found the one thing in this life that matters. When it comes to priorities in this life, have you put Jesus first?

And if you haven’t, what is stopping you from doing so today?

Let’s end this service with communion. But let’s also consider this a new beginning.

I can’t think of a better way to refocus our priorities as we leave here today....

Take communion.