Without This, Life Will Be Very Short

Proverbs 9:11 (NIV) – For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.

Human beings live in constant fear of death. We fear death because we desire to live long. We fear death because we want to be around with our loved ones and experience life. We were created with a love for life. Death is a punishment and an enemy.

Human beings will go to great lengths to elongate their lives. Many attempts are scams but the desire causes even the most knowledgeable people to fall for them. People join religious movements hoping to live long and avoid death. People eat bitter herbs and participate in daily arduous activities to increase the length of life. People will pay all their savings to get medical care that will extend a few days of their life. 

People want to live longer even if longer is one extra day. The desire to live long and avoid a short life is deep within us. The Bible our most reliable guide of all ages has a suggestion on how to live longer even.

Proverbs 9:11 (Message Bible) – It’s through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen.

Proverbs 9:11 (New Living Translation) – Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life.

Proverbs 9:11 (Amplified Bible) – For by me (wisdom from God) your days will be multiplied, And years of life shall be increased.

The Bible teaches us that if we have divine wisdom, we will live longer. Wisdom brings longevity. Lack of wisdom shortens life.

Wisdom means you will avoid risks that threaten life. Risks like careless driving. Driving too fast for the thrill. You will avoid risks of eating with unclean hands. You will avoid risks of provoking fights. You will avoid risks of exposing yourself to danger by poor dressing during harsh weather. You will avoid risks of trusting people too fast, who eventually hurt you. Wisdom will indeed increase the length of your life.

Wisdom also informs us by observation, learning and experience, that life in a sinful world will always have ups and downs. Sad days will come. As Murphy’s law says, what can go wrong, will go wrong. This understanding helps us avoid a level of disappointment that reduces immunity and life. Wisdom will help us manage disappointment.

A wise person knows relationships will lose excitement at some point and may even hurt and break. When it happens a wise person moves own painfully but gracefully. Wisdom prepares us for failure, loss and being hurt. These misfortunes will not shorten the life of a wise person who expected them.

John 16:33 (NIV) – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE In. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

A wise person knows in this world, trouble is a must. Even with good intentions, good heart, good actions and being nice, bad things will still happen. Businesses will struggle and even fail, and you will have to try again. Employers will fire and hurt the best and most hardworking workers. The most moral and nice person may miss a marriage partner. So is life in a sinful world. A wise person doesn’t get stuck in disappointment, because getting stuck invites early death.

A wise person knows that people die, even suddenly. A wise person doesn’t expect an eternal life in sin. A wise person mourns with a degree of acceptance that such things happen and that there is a resurrection. A wise person knows that bad people may seem to live longer than good people who seem to die sooner. A wise person as much as possible tries to avoid the death of others triggering their sooner death. 

A wise person knows that even the church may once in a while disappoint. Therefore a wise person lowers expectations. Church leaders may commit sins that they have condemned from the pulpit. Church leaders may act in a manner to suggest they have no respect for God or the things of God. A wise person doesn’t quit the church. A wise person avoids life shortening level of disappointment.

Exodus 20:12 (NIV) – “Honor your father and your mother, SO THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Ephesians 6:1-3 (NIV) – 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and THAT YOU MAY ENJOY LONG LIFE on the earth.”

A wise person follows guidance and device of those who have more experience and are more knowledgeable. Parents have lived longer than children and have known risks and dangers through observation and experience. If you accept guidance you will avoid dangers. You will not repeat what killed others early. A wise obedient person will avoid what shortened the life of others in the past because they accept guidance through obedience.

Obedience means you defy your desire and follow what is right but may not be desirable. You desire to sleep longer but you obey and wake up to study. You desire to get into relationships but you obey and delay it until when you complete your high school. You desire company of drug abusers but you obey and stay home as they club. Obedience will grant us a quality and longer life. Only the wise are obedient!

Proverbs 9:11 (Good News Translation) – Wisdom will add years to your life.

Proverbs 9:11 (Contemporary English Version) – I am Wisdom. If you follow me, you will live a long time.

Wisdom has practical advantages that make this difficult life of sin bearable. Wisdom will give you a chance to avoid risks that shorten life. Wisdom will help you expect unavoidable pain and therefore handle it slightly better. Wisdom will enable you to live longer!

Psalms 14:1 (NIV) – The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

Proverbs 9:10 (NIV) – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Wisdom will also connect us with God. Wisdom makes us reverent. Wisdom makes us worshippers. Wisdom makes us prayerful and readers of God’s word. Wisdom helps us align our lives to the will of God. Wisdom helps us connect with the supernatural God so that we can achieve what our limited natural selves couldn’t achieve on our own. Wisdom causes us to receive blessings from God. Wisdom connects us to God the life giver and consequently we live longer. The wise live longer!

James 1:5 (NIV) – If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Ask God for wisdom and He will give you. Wisdom is God given. You can read books and listen to successful people, but only God can give wisdom. You can have knowledge on leadership. Knowledge on everything, but wisdom will only come from God. You can be experienced but not wise. Wisdom comes from God!

Dear God, we pray for wisdom. Grant us wisdom knowledge and understanding. Make us wise and may we consequently live a long life. In Jesus name, Amen!

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