Topic(s): Eternity & Judgment, Sin

Hello, my name is Steve Higginbotham, and I am an impulse buyer.

There, I feel better now. But it’s true; I’m the kind of guy for which they make commercials and design eye-catching packaging. When I go shopping, if I see something on the shelf I like, I put it in the buggy. Consequently, my children never miss an opportunity to go shopping with me, and my wife rarely sends me.

But this “impulse buying” has sometimes led to some very poor purchases. You see, I don’t check the price like I should, and it’s not until I’m at the checkout that I realize how expensive some items are. Well, at this point, I’m too embarrassed to say anything. I don’t want to hold people up in the line behind me by putting it back. So I proceed with a purchase that has now lost its luster.

Now if I can change subjects, is that not precisely why we choose to sin? Impulse. If we fully comprehended the cost before the transaction was made, we wouldn’t make it. But we go on our impulse. Immediate gratification. And we don’t worry about the price until we get to the checkout.

Well friends, let me remind you that there will be a “checkout” some day, and we will have to pay for our “purchases.” Therefore, I would encourage you, as well as myself, to learn self-discipline and make life choices based not upon today, but upon eternity. —Steve Higginbotham

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. . .” —1 John 2:1

Mensa

Topic(s): Bible Study, Wisdom

Mensa is an exclusive organization composed of those deemed to be geniuses.

Only the truly intelligent need apply. They have meetings where they express their erudition, I suppose, and a newsletter of the same name that is, presumably, full of intelligent and brilliant insights. Doctors and scientists and members of “think tanks” join this group.

They are undeniably smart, but they are not wise.

Albert Einstein was perhaps the most brilliant mind of last century, perhaps the most intelligent man who ever lived. He proposed the Theory of Relativity, and he played a part in discovering how to split the atom. He wrote many insightful things.

He was undeniably intelligent, but he may not have been wise.

When the Bible speaks of wisdom or foolishness, you must understand that it is not talking about IQ or gray matter. The Bible does not mean to be insulting when it calls someone a fool. Such a person is not a buffoon or a moron. He is simply not wise by God’s definition.

James helps us to see wisdom the way God does. The truly wise person does not harbor “bitter envy and strife in [his] heart.” Wise people are “peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).

Wisdom has to do with our behavior. A wise person displays the sweet spirit of Jesus. He does not love a good fight; he loves peace between brethren. He does not have ambition that by its selfishness steps on others.

Hannah, the mother of Samuel, may not have been a genius, but she was wise.

Nathaniel, the skeptic from Bethsaida, may not have been a member of Mensa, but he was wise.

You remember the story of the wise and foolish builders? It was likely one of the earliest Bible stories you ever learned. You have probably sung the song a million times, mimicking the action of the “rains” and the “floods.” Jesus defines the wise man as the one who hears His words and does them (Matthew 7:24–27). He similarly describes a fool as one who hears his words but does not do them.

So wisdom is not what you know, because both people knew what Christ wanted. The wise person lived by it.

So I say it, not proudly, but gratefully; I belong to an inclusive organization. It’s called the church. Those who live by the organization’s charter are wise. Not geniuses, necessarily, but wise.  —Stan Mitchell

“Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” —Ephesians 5:17

The High Cost of Hard Living

Topic(s): Sin

Researcher Mark Bellis of John Moores University in Liverpool, England, collected statistics concerning 1,064 rock stars from the United States and Europe between the 1950s and the present. His conclusions suggest that, statistically, rock stars really do die younger than the general population. The average age at death for American rockers was 42; for Europeans, 35.

Partying, transportation accidents, and mental instability were the primary contributors to causes of death. —Brandon O'Brien, PreachingToday.com; “Rock Hard, Die Young” (9-21-07)