When I was seven, my parents and grandparents decided to sell their homes in Granada Hills and pool their money to buy a fourplex in Huntington Beach. For many years, my family, with me being the baby of seven, resided in the large front section, Unit A. My Grandpa Mac lived in Unit B and my Grandpa Bill and Grandma Carlota lived in Unit C.
This gave me a lot of time to speak with my grandparents, as both my grandfathers lived well into their 90’s. My Grandpa Bill was an early riser (3:00 a.m.) and would spend most of the day out on the front porch smoking his pipe and tending to the yard. I spent many hours listening to his stories. He was born in Los Angeles in 1900, worked on the Panama Canal (where he met my grandmother), and saw the world go from covered wagons to space shuttles. I wish I would have been more attentive to his stories, as I now know that they were intended to impart his wisdom to me.
2 Chronicles 1:7-10 (NIV) That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
Wow! I understand that Solomon was around 20 years old at this time. I think if God asked that question of me at 20, I probably would have asked for a million dollars and to be Farrah Faucet’s husband. I think Solomon’s request was a much better choice.
Certainly, wisdom is learned over time through our mistakes (if we actually learn from them) and our successes. That being said, I am certainly going to try to impart my wisdom with greater intent to my children, friends, and community. I feel I missed a lot of the wisdom my parents and grandparents were trying to pass along to me. If I had not, I may have made some better decisions in my journey.
God not only made Solomon the wisest man who ever lived, he also made him the richest man and the man of highest honor. God has unlimited resources and loves to give us more, when our hearts are in the right place.
Solomon gave us the book of Proverbs, which I intend to spend a lot more time in after this. This book is like a user’s manual for wisdom. Proverbs 3:16-18 (GNT) “Wisdom offers you long life, as well as wealth and honor. It can make your life pleasant and lead you safely through it. Those who become wise are happy; wisdom will give them life.”
What if we were all born wise? I would imagine we would all be living the fruits of the spirit from day one (Galatians 5: 22-23) and our planet would look a lot like heaven. True wisdom can be learned when we look at things through Jesus’ eyes and ask ourselves what would he do? Perhaps if all of us did this faithfully throughout our daily lives, we could make this broken world look a lot more like heaven as well.
Bill McMahon is the father of McKenzie and Michael McMahon and has been part of the La Sierra University Church community since 2006.