Morning Devotional 062825 Slow and Steady

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

June 28, 2025

Proverbs 4:1-10

1 Hear, children, fatherly instruction; pay attention to gain understanding. 2 I’ll teach you well. Don’t abandon my instruction. 3 When I was a son to my father, tender and my mother’s favorite, 4 he taught me and said to me: “Let your heart hold on to my words: Keep my commands and live. 5 Get wisdom; get understanding. Don’t forget and don’t turn away from my words. 6 Don’t abandon her, and she will guard you. Love her, and she will protect you. 7 The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom! Get understanding before anything else. 8 Highly esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will honor you if you embrace her. 9 She will place a graceful wreath on your head; she will give you a glorious crown.” 10 Listen, my son, and take in my speech, then the years of your life will be many.

Good Morning! Keep God’s commands and live!

One of the benefits of aging is the gathering of wisdom. I do not believe that this is a finite process, and true wisdom seems to be best gained through a slow and steady approach. 

As youngsters, we tend to be like a bull in a china shop, as we bounce from one mess to another. We think we know all the answers when we haven’t even learned the questions yet. 

With maturity comes the realization that in many things we know just enough to be dangerous. For example, as a STEM teacher, I taught basic electrical circuits, and we did experiments creating pathways of electricity to light up small LEDs and motors that required minimal amounts of electricity. I know never to work on anything electrical unless the source of power is removed, but the wisdom kicks in when I consider whether I can safely “fix” or reestablish electrical current. 

God provides us with opportunities to gather knowledge as we travel our faith journeys. We must learn to temper our knowledge so that we may develop and recognize basic levels of understanding. Just as understanding that a little electrical knowledge does not make me an electrician, reading and interpreting Scripture does not provide a comprehensive understanding of everything God is and does. 

We are called to keep God’s commands, live an abundant life, and slowly garner facets of wisdom that come from years of experience and practice. 

Giving Lord, you bless us abundantly! We often want to know the answers before we have received the questions. Help us study and patiently learn from Scripture. Thank you. We love you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: God’s counsel and wisdom are revealed in Scripture. 

Developing true wisdom is a lifelong process! Pastor Liz