Proverbs 18:15-16 

¹⁵The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out. ¹⁶A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

Logic

         Someone said, “It is not easy to convince anyone with logic.” You may have observe it. You tried hard to explain, you just cannot convince them to agree with you. Why? Everyone is unique. We don’t have the same intellectual capacity. You may explain it the best way you can, but possibly they are not paying attention to what you are saying. Interestingly, the Lord never commanded us to force people to believe the gospel of salvation.

         Together, let’s internalize what he said in Acts 1:8, ⁸You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses.

         Our mandate is to testify for Christ. We tell our personal adventure with him. Personal adventure with Christ proves our relationship with him. Listeners may identify with our experience, and God may convince them, just as he convinced us to trust him. Someone may inquire, “So, why do we need to be trained in evangelism and explain the gospel to listeners?”

         How do you interpret what it announced in 1 Corinthians 2:14?

            ¹⁴The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

         Recall the very first time you heard that Christ was crucified for the penalty of our sins. “Yes! I want to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!” Did you gladly say, that? But when we realized our need to be saved from the punishment of sin, it was the Holy Spirit who inspired us to believe and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He reconciled us to God.

         Additionally, it is also the Holy Spirit who inspires desire to testify for Christ. So, to rely upon the Holy Spirit always is a smart and wise decision.

1.  Wise

          ¹⁵The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.

         When the weather bureau forecasts that temperature may possibly rise to high as 40 degrees Celsius, people may go outside and prove if it is really warm. But if we take precaution and make sure we have a bottle of water when we drive our car outside in summer, isn’t that a wise move?

         Spiritually, we also heard the warning about the punishment of sin.

         Seriously reflect on Romans 6:23, ²³For the wages of sin is death.

         Figuratively, the word “death” pertains to separation from wonderful life that our Lord Jesus Christ prepared for us who trust him as our Lord and Savior. Separation from life in heaven is eternal torture. Life on earth offers many partial tortures of being separated from our love ones.

Kindergarten

         Just observed children on their first day in school. Most children want their parents to join them in class. They don’t want to be separated from their parents in school. They cry when their parents leave them, especially if they do not know their teacher or anyone among their classmates.

         What else? Those who went abroad alone and left their families for extended time would long to return home to their families. Being away from home is mental and emotional torture that anyone may suffer.

         To be separated from God is emotional, mental and physical torture. Anyone who rejects Christ will be tortured thinking why they disregarded the glorious lives in heaven. They will missed their loved ones who may enter heaven. What else? There will be eternal thirst and agonizing pain of being burned by eternal fire. They will desire to disappear but they cannot.

         Everyone in heaven sings praises of gratitude to the Lord. It narrated in Revelation 21:3-4, ³A loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

         Imagine. You joined a marathon. You’re leading the race until you saw a Left Turn road sign. You turned to the left. By the time you realized that it’s a wrong way, you missed some minutes, and another runner won the race. That’s very sad, ey? We don’t want to miss our goal. Our eternal goal is to live forever in heaven with God. It is wise to be focused on Christ.

         Reflect on Hebrews 12:1-2, ¹Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

         By God’s grace, we can persevere even if our faith is not yet perfect.

         How? We fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the pioneer of faith. He has perfected faith when he endured torture and crucifixion. He focused on the joy waiting for him, and now, he’s sitting at the right hand of God’s throne. We must always depend on Christ our Lord for inspiration to persevere.

         Christ is the way to God. He is the way to eternal happiness.

2.  Way

   ¹⁶A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

         Do you know which way of life to follow? Knowing the way of life is not sufficiently enough. We need to know how to open the way. We need to know how to follow the way and what is required when we enter the way.

         Imagine: You know the way to the Winnipeg Folk Festival in summer. You know it will be held at Bird’s Hill Provincial Park. You know the date and time. And you drive there with your friend. You enjoyed the show.

         Now, you wanted to get near your favorite performer to have a selfie with. But you do not know anyone among his circle of friends. You cannot push yourself ahead of many spectators. What can you do? You asked the organizers and gave them money to set you up with the performers.

         When you come to powerful and famous personalities, prepare gifts. King Solomon was famous. The queen of Sheba heard about his fame, and it says in 1 King 10:10, ¹⁰And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

         It’s not easy to come face to face with great personalities like King Solomon. Jesus Christ the King of kings is greater than Solomon but the Lord does not require gift to come to God. Actually when we come to Jesus Christ, the Lord gives us everlasting gift. Jesus prayed in John 17:1-3,

          ¹Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ²For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent

         The gift of eternal life is activated in our life by the time we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Eternal life is intimate experience with God and Jesus Christ our Lord, his power, presence and provision. We pray that the presence of Christ in us sustains us with joy, peace and composure. We seek empowerment to discern and receive all provisions from the Lord.

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