Proverbs 11:30

Dan & Claire Maudhub look at how to live skillfully

Dan & Claire Maudhub

We long to see our friends and family members come to know Christ and know the abundance of the life He gives us when we count ourselves in His family. Any Christian who has seen God work in their lives would want that peace and joy for their loved ones too. Many of us have an urge to see this extend to other peoples and nations and even to the entire world! This is no small task; even seeing an uncle or auntie saved can seem beyond our faith sometimes.

Proverbs 11:30 says 'The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.'

Could this scripture hold a key to this huge task?

There are so many ways in which this verse could be understood, but this is the angle that occurred to me recently. Spurgeon puts it like this, 'To accomplish such a work, a man must he wise, for to win a soul requires infinite wisdom'.

Does that mean we have to be very clever? A brilliant Bible scholar? Great with words and winning speeches? Old with a whiskery beard?

The Bible says there is a manner of wisdom available for every believer and that we should all seek it more than any other precious thing. As a Christian, we can ask God for many things, but the book of Proverbs says to seek wisdom more than anything else. Wisdom is a key to seeing breakthrough in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

Here are some definitions of a wise person.

W - stands for 'whole'. Our hurts, hang ups, broken areas, sin and unforgiveness will hold us back from growing in God. If we don't face these and give them up to God so He can heal us and move us on, we will forever be ineffective. The Bible says we are vessels for His use. How can He use a vessel that is broken, not whole, or not complete? As a child I used to help my granddad carry water for his horses - he had a great collection of rusty buckets! I can tell you, the water leaked out of the bucket at the height of the lowest rusty hole. We need to grow up into all things, the Bible says, to a mature person. If we want to be used by God to win souls, we have to be vessels ready for use.

I - stands for 'instruction'. I thank God for the mature people in the faith that God has put around me. I have found that inviting their input, correction and their advice has saved me from many of life's pitfalls. It has helped heal me from many of life's knocks and disappointments and has guided me away from dead ends and bad decisions. The Bible says that fools don't take instruction, but wisdom is found by taking instruction and applying truth.

S - stands for 'skilful'. Wisdom can be defined as the ability to live life skilfully. Wisdom is knowledge applied. A well-known example of this is that knowledge understands that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom understands not to put one in a fruit salad! In other words you can be very knowledgeable and yet not wise. When you apply what you know, (that which is good and true), then wisdom comes.

E - stands for Eternal truth. We set our hearts on eternity. Worldly wisdom can tell you temporary things like how to get a job or save money, which in themselves are not bad things, but the wisdom of God reveals how to live in His Kingdom and how to apply His ways. We need to see His eternal truth applied in our lives, which not only impacts us, but the fruit of wisdom impacting those around us and saving souls.

God desires to see souls saved; He gave His Son Jesus so this could happen. Let's be a generation that seeks God for wisdom, to know how to live life skilfully and see souls won.

Be blessed, be wise.