SALT WATER

One of my favorite surf huts in the world KM61 El Salvador

CLEAN WATER

LIVING WATER

Praying for the half pipe we built for the community in Palmarcito

WISDOM AS PROXIMITY - PROVERBS 2:11-22

I want to talk to you today about wisdom as proximity.

Proximity means the distance that you are from something that you want. So of course, if you want to become wise, then we need to figure out how we're going to get closer to the source. So that's what I'm going to talk to you about today. We can all use more wisdom, the daily specific, godly application of knowledge in our life, the appropriate timing, the appropriate place with the right heart. The Bible can give us divine wisdom in the moment by the Holy Spirit. So how do we get that?

So the first thing we want to do is we want to get close to it. In our heart, we want to say, now, God, help me be as close to wisdom as I possibly can. It's a choice. It is an active word. It's a verb. It carries with it intent, and it carries with it a specific desired outcome, which means you want to actually live a better life by making better decisions.

So the second thing that we want to do is we want to get close to scripture. So I read, actually listen to, because I learned better listening, like some people do on, let's say, the podcast. Podcast has three times the amount of listeners as does the people who watch this YouTube channel, for example.

So I listen to the Bible every morning. I listen to the entire Bible every year. Now, why do I do that? Because I believe that the Bible is a book that's inspired by God to me, and I want it in my life. I want to see what it has for me. I want to hear what it has for me. I want it to impact my life every day.

Now, my presupposition, my a priori, is that by doing that, I'm actually activating God more in my life. I'm choosing to be closer to his divine source of wisdom. It's also why I've taught now 268 episodes as of today, most of which have been Bible teachings because if I believe the Bible to be the actual Word of God, it changes your relationship to it. So for me in my life, I want to get as close to scripture as I can every single day. It's a decision. Now, I expect you to take scripture seriously. Now whether or not you do a one-year Bible plan, well, that's between you and God. I like a one-year Bible plan because it shows some daily discipline. I'm a very big advocate of small habits in your life. Say in our life, we have five-minute habits. We have 10-minute habits. I have an hour and 15-minute habit where I try to go surfing Monday through Friday. So our life is really made up of these habits that we put into our life and they impact who we become and how our life turns out.

I really recommend that you put an ingredient into your life, the one-year Bible. It's a 15-minute daily habit. It'll change your mind. It'll change your life. That's the point of desiring to follow God every day. So you want to get as close to scripture as you can. Again, I really recommend that you take scripture seriously and that you go download the YouVersion Bible app and sign up for some type of plan that people can walk you through. There's literally hundreds of them on there. People have put a lot of time into and so they've done a lot of the hard work already just making it something that you can access in your life.

Now the third thing that you're going to want to do is you're going to want to get close to wise people. As my friend Adam Watts says, if you hang out with eight idiots, you will be the ninth idiot. So you want to get around wise people.

You want to allow wise people to impact you and impact your thinking. And again, this is your decision. Now we all have people that we listen to in our life and we have people that we do not listen to. I can't be clear enough about this.

I have about half a dozen people that I listen to in my life. At the top of the list is my wife.

There's about four or five others that I actually take pretty serious what they say and they think. Then there's another group of people. It just sort of depends on the subject that we're talking about and I'll consider their thinking. Now why do you do that? Because I want to surround my life with as much wisdom as I possibly can. And so you want to make sure that you're getting the right input from the right people to make the right decisions. And so what decisions are we talking about exactly? So you really are going to need wisdom for the big decision, for the big decisions. Small decisions like toothpaste and tacos, who cares. Those are small decisions.

Big decisions like who am I going to listen to about advice for my marriage? Well, you're really going to want to find someone who has some wisdom about marriage.

Who am I going to listen to about the career that I'm supposed to decide to pursue? Probably someone that's been successful in that career.

Who am I going to listen to about how I'm going to build my business? Probably someone that's been successful at building a business.

This may come as a shock to you, but some people literally have no idea what they're talking about. And so you want to make sure that you surround people, especially with big decisions. Things like your family, your marriage, your relationship with God, what you're going to do with your life. You know, moving is a big one. Friendships that you develop. Those are the big decisions.

Make sure with the big decisions that you get as close to wisdom as you can, as close to the scriptures as you can, as close to wise people as you can. Because of course, the goal in life is to be as wise as you possibly can. Now until next time, I hope you have a beautiful day. Thank you for joining me.

50 DAYS OF WISDOM - DAY 6 "Wisdom as proximity - Proverbs 2:11-22"