Horse Sense a/k/a Wisdom

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7
	Great men are not always wise... Job 32:9. The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools. Proverbs 3:35.
Job 32:9 tells us, Great men are not always wise... Never have we seen those words proven more than in the last few years, and at an accelerated rate just recently. Somewhere along the line, we foolishly began to equate "popularity" with "WISDOM"! Just because a person has a lot of airtime or has become a familiar figure because of links to some "faction" or "coalition", does not mean we should blindly regard them as "being wise". In country vernacular, "You see that ole' boy around a lot, and he's right bright, but he ain't got a lick o' horse sense." Of course, such grammar is probably disgusting to all the fine minds of today, but it meant a person had lots of book knowledge (education), but no common sense. Common sense, WISDOM: the ability to think, to reason, to properly apply knowledge gained through education or experience. Today, we use the term, "Thinking out of the box," so it will sound like something THIS generation thought of, but it's a very ancient concept.
	The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame. Proverbs 12:15,16.
Just as in times past, in other cultures and civilizations which lost their position of "world power", today there is a great lack of WISDOM being used in this country of ours. We see it in new laws being enacted, we hear it in political rhetoric, we see it more and more in daily decisions being made from the highest government levels down to the "average Joe" on the street. It seems that in this day and age, all that counts is "formal education", and then only if it is through some government-approved curriculum. One doesn't have to have any "horse sense" to get a good-paying job--just get that degree so those all-important letters can be added behind the name and voila! Salary jumps, promotion occurs. Personal integrity, good work ethics, loyalty and pleasant attitude no longer bear the weight they once did--it's education only. There is NOTHING wrong with a good education: one should never stop learning! But when we promote scoundrels and cutthroats merely on the basis of their pedigrees and their education, we're not asking for trouble, we're demanding it! Recently, thousands have lost their life's savings or had their retirement pensions wiped out by those who were well-educated: well-educated in thievery and lying and fraud!
	Get WISDOM, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. WISDOM is the principal thing; therefore get WISDOM: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Proverbs 4:5-9.
Common sense = "horse sense" = WISDOM. What is WISDOM? The ability to apply that which we know (or are learning). There are a lot of folks in this great country of ours who have traded WISDOM for mere knowledge. The sad part is, they got the bad end of the deal. Knowledge (education) IS a wonderful thing--to be able to learn and learn and keep on learning. Yet at some point, we are going to be required to apply that which we have learned. Enter WISDOM (or lack thereof). Even the news media, with their seemingly never-ending parade of EX-perts, is now ready to admit that not only do they NOT have the answers, they don't even know the questions any more! Answers given are only empty, well-rehearsed rhetoric, apparently based on the theory that something must be said, however non-informative or lacking in fact it is. Whatever happened to the honesty of, "I don't know"? More and more we've heard expressed, "I just can't seem to get back to the same footing I was on before September 11, 2001. Why can't things just go Back To Normal?" Duh! Good old Horse Sense ought to tell us that things have changed, folks--they will NEVER be the same. Let's face it, we were arrogantly going about with our heads in the clouds, that old Titanic mentality of "You can't do anything to me!" Who did we think we were? From the highest ranking official in this country down to the least known of all, we had a mindset of infallibility: "We are GREAT and powerful, look at us! Boo! Bet we scared you!" The bluff worked until we got called on it, didn't it? Just because we consider ourselves to be the greatest nation on earth does not mean we have used WISDOM to get there, but I can guarantee you one thing: there had better be WISDOM applied if we are to stay there!
	It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath WISDOM. Proverbs 10:23.
Simply because it might not occur to you and me to blow up buildings and take the lives of unwary people does NOT mean it doesn't occur to others! How could someone conceive of such evil? That's the easiest part to answer: nothing, no weapon we have on earth is more powerful than the mind. True, there are those who devise all manner of good with their brains, but there are also those who use their brains to create all manner of evil. If you held the value of life as low as did those who so fiendishly attack innocent civilians around the world, you would suffer no ill feelings about your actions, either! Oh yes, the fiends who brought their brutality to our shores, and who are keeping up a constant barrage of it on foreign shores, are indeed using the most powerful weapon known to man: the BRAIN!
	Happy is the man that findeth WISDOM, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Proverbs 3:13-15.
This country and its people are in such sad shape, in SO many ways. Not only have we grown fat and slovenly, always ready to invent a new medical term for our increasing states of laziness, but we have lost so much of the personal integrity that once marked this nation as a true leader in the world. We have not only followed one ridiculous scheme after another, we have chased them down and claimed them as our own! We fall for every "get rich quick" plan that comes down the pike, then whine when it turns out to be a scam! Did we get too smart to remember, "That which sounds too good to be true usually is"? We simply REFUSE to get the picture, don't we? Look at all the MISinformation coming from various EX-perts that have been paraded before us by the news media: "It is VERY HARD, to get this or that in such and such form." Tell me again, How hard was it? The latest analysis suggests that the anthrax found in a letter addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy was a “weaponized” form of the bacterium more sophisticated than any previously known. It had been ground to a microscopic fineness not achieved by U.S. biological-weapons experts, a powder so fine and fluffy U.S. bioweapons experts had never seen it before! If someone intends to do another harm, they WILL find a way to do it! Yet we went along stupidly, unprepared in ways still being discovered, because IT "hadn't happened YET". Certainly, it is impossible to be prepared for EVERY possibility, but we were totally UNprepared for MOST! The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. Proverbs 30:25. It wasn't just a matter of "What if"; we KNEW there were (are) those who intend us harm, yet in our haste to "not worry about" it, we forgot that we ought to be wary of it! We COULD be better prepared to defend against, or at the very least, meet that which comes upon us if we would apply TRUE wisdom to our existence in this world.
	...the price of wisdom is above rubies. Job 28:18. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. Proverbs 2:10,11.
Obviously, we STILL haven't learned very much from any of this, either. We keep right on hand-shaking and back-patting the enemy into this or that peace accord that they NEVER intend to honor! We keep pressing those that we were once committed to defending into making concessions when it's NOT OURS to give nor to dictate the terms of its existence. We're not reading the Bible, we haven't learned from history, we are following that which a few (with their own personal agendas) decide is in "our" (their) best interest. Yes, America is the "greatest": the "greatest" arrogant nation on the face of this planet. We aren't dealing with the problems; we have cocooned ourselves into a prescription drug-induced state of, "Everything is just fine. NONE of this could possibly be MY fault. I'm not to blame!" We refuse to admit our mistakes, and most serious of all, we refuse to turn back to God and repent of our abominations!
Godly Wisdom
	Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom. Job 36:5. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. II Timothy 3:16,17.
And if the lack of "social" or "secular" wisdom is not bad enough, there is an even greater degree of lack in spiritual wisdom today! We have dismissed The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7. We sit and watch program after program of "I'm afraid of my child", from parents who are too foolish and misguided to be the leaders in the home. Parents misuse and abuse their children, then wonder why the "respect" factor is missing in our lives, today. They REFUSE to seek the wisdom that comes from God, and then wonder why they and their children make so many "bad decisions".
	Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because MANY false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world...They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. I John 4:1-6.
There it is: Beloved, believe NOT every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Of course, that demands something of us, doesn't it? In order to know what is false, we must first know The Truth, right? Yet to know The Truth requires a commitment on our part, and you know, we just don't have any time to spare for that, do we? The Bible tells us, That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Ephesians 4:14.
	Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and DEPART FROM EVIL. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Proverbs 3:5-8
I John 4:5 tells us, They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. Nowadays, we are so anxious to be "in step with the world" that we have abandoned the things of God for the things of this world. We are driven to be so "politically-correct" and "socially-acceptable" that we no longer live to please and glorify God--we live to please the world and glorify ourselves. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men... I Corinthians 3:18-21 The Bible warns us, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. II Timothy 4:3,4. Our attitude is, "If he (she) doesn't tell me what I want to hear, I'll just go somewhere else and find somebody who will!" And let's face it, more and more, those in positions of leadership in our churches today are indeed telling folks what they want to hear instead of what they NEED to hear! What does the Bible say about such "leaders"? Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:14.
	The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb Psalm 19:7-10.
Through the years, we have spoken with a number of pastors and various church leaders. Each of them remembered numerous times when they had been asked for spiritual counseling or "Biblical advice". Yet when it was offered, the person(s) asking went away offended. Why? Because it was NOT what they wanted to hear. Perhaps that old saying is true: a person asks for advice to see if it agrees with that which they have already decided to do.
	If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5.
We'd better decide, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and that right quickly, the RIGHT sources from which to seek WISDOM. We had better put that which we are eagerly following after up against the "measuring stick of God", His Holy Word. If it doesn't "measure up", we need to abandon it and FIND "The Truth"! Just as Jesus told the Jews that believed on Him--it is still true TODAY: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32. And where do we find The Truth? Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:5,6.
(all emphasis on scriptures, such as bold, underline or uppercase, is mine) "Horse Sense" (also known as "WISDOM") Copyright © 2002 by Patricia Sikes. All Rights Reserved.

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