By the special grace of God, once a year, there's a day set apart for us to celebrate our birthday. I recently was blessed to mark my birthday in the month of May and I have been thinking about life in general. I've had a few days to flash back on the years I've lived and to also look forward to the years to come. I've thought about where I predicted I would be at this present age and I've planned for where I want to be by my next birthday. In all of my reminiscing and planning, I remembered Psalm 90:12. The Scripture begins by asking God to teach us to number our days. We number our days each year when people ask you, " How old are you?". This year when people asked me that question and I replied, 99 percent of the response to my answer has been "Feefe you are getting old!" to which I wanted to respond, "Well Duh, of course I'm getting old!". Aging is not what concerns me. What has been on my mind is the second part of Psalm 90:12 that talks about applying our hearts unto wisdom. The question then remains, how do we apply our hearts unto wisdom? The Word of God tells us that
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endureth forever. "-Psalm 111:10
The very first step in applying our hearts unto wisdom is acknowledging that God is God. The fear of, or the reverence of the God, is the beginning of wisdom. No matter how well educated we are, we have yet to taste wisdom and understanding if we are ignorant of the existence of the True Living God. He is the God that created heaven and earth, the God that formed you in your mother's womb and knew you before your mother knew she was pregnant! He is the same God whose grace has allowed you to see another birthday and whose air you are borrowing! Acknowledging His Sovereignty over your life is the start of wisdom.
"Commit your way unto the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass"-Psalm 37:5
When we have this fundamental wisdom, then we will become aware of our foolishness and inadequacies. Rather than being ashamed of this, it will force us to draw closer unto God. If anyone is like me, the older I become, the more I realize how much I need to have my entire life in submission to Christ. I have desires, dreams, and expectations, but increasing in age has exposed my weaknesses.When I was younger, I used to be able to hide behind my parents or my older siblings. They made choices for me and looked after me. If anything was wrong, they took care of it. Now I am more independent and this has force me to realize that I cannot do anything on my own. I am not talking about doing things in the sense of cooking, cleaning, or paying bills because my Mom, being a Nigerian mom, ensured that I knew how to take care of myself. But in terms of doing life, I now understand how crucial it is to walk in the grace of God. When I think about the future and I think about matters of a young adult's mind like finishing off school, building life-long friendships, and finding a spouse for marriage, etc., I realize that I need God to direct my paths. A mistake in these areas of life can alter an entire destiny and now I see why the Scripture also tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean NOT on your own understanding; In all of your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path"-Psalm 3:5-6. We need the grace of God to apply our hearts unto wisdom to make godly choices, to live the life God called us to live and be all that God destined us to be! Wisdom is the principal thing!
I have decided to challenge myself in this new age to seek after God in a more sincere, deep, and personal way, and I want to encourage you all to do the same. Let us not get older and yet remain spiritual babies for the Word of God says, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a [wo]man, I gave up childish ways."-1 Corinthians 13:11. Now is the time to give up childish ways and start applying our hearts unto wisdom, seeking that Christ be revealed in us and through us. If by my next birthday nothing in me and about me has changed for the better, then I have failed to let God transform me and increase me. May this not be my portion, or yours. Let us press towards to mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)
Yorkamazing <3
T.M.V Proverbs 4:7
