“Happy is the man who gains understanding.” Proverbs 3:13 NKJV
“Experience is a great teacher, a path to understanding for those who learn its lessons.”
My thoughts today are about “valuable life-lessons.”
You are not born with knowledge and understanding. You came into the world with a blank slate – as a book of blank pages waiting to be written upon as you learn and grow. That book will become the story of your life, the sum of knowledge that you daily accumulate through your ability to listen and learn.
There is truth written on your heart by your Creator, but life and the shared knowledge and understanding from others will help you to discover and appreciate it. The Apostle Paul wrote of “the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness . .” Romans 2:15 NKJV. You must learn to look within and listen for His voice of truth residing in the depth of your heart, pure and undeceived. Isaiah wrote, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21 NIV.
There is a world that God made, with wonders unexplainable except for a Creator. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Read Psalm 19:1-6 NIV.
The problem is not a lack of knowledge and understanding available; that is ample. God has given the Bible, His record of truth and wisdom to be food for your mind and soul and direction for life. “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.” See Psalm 119:97-106 NIV. You have also been given the promise of the Holy Spirit who will reside within those who receive and welcome Him. “When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13 NIV.
All of the above are to prepare you for gaining understanding and wisdom from valuable life-lessons. That’s where you translate what you have seen and heard into what you will believe with certainty and conviction. Life dispenses knowledge to those who desire it, to those who will hear and receive it. The most valuable life-lesson is to learn to keep God at the center.
From life you gain experience, some pleasant and others not so much. Experience can be costly. There often is a price to be paid, but one well worth paying. From every experience you can learn something useful, but that does not happen automatically. There is an oft-repeated quote, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates, Greek philosopher 469-399 BC. You cannot avoid mistakes, but you can reduce their frequency, grow from them, and avoid making the same ones again.
Experience is a great teacher, a path to understanding if you will choose to learn its lessons. People have experiences everyday; not everyone considers and evaluates their lessons to learn from them. Be one person who learns, and lives more wisely. It is sad to see people who spend their lifetimes making the same mistakes, with ever greater costs to themselves and others. Don’t let that be true of you.
My prayer for you today is that you always view life through the matrix of God’s truth.