James 1: 5.  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him.”  We all make many decisions every day in life, family and work.  Leaders make decisions with even more impact and with greater future consequences.  We are today who we are based on the decisions we have made in the past.  Who we will be and the families and businesses/organizations/churches we lead will become what they will be in the future based on the decisions we are making today.  I know of no one who does not want to make the best decisions possible for success and to impact God’s kingdom.  So, how do we make good decisions?  Our verse this week provides the first step and that is to ask God even before the decision may arise. When I served as President of Texas A&M University, I asked God every morning to give me the wisdom and courage to make the right decisions for the upcoming day and to protect His witness and testimony in my life.  God was always faithful to my asking and gave generously to the many decisions that had to be made daily.

Wisdom for the Christian man is very simply defined as “Seeing life from God’s point of view.”  Our Scripture this week involves a command to ask for wisdom from God who promises to give it to us freely.  This promise comes from three spiritual principles:  1) To know God’s Word, 2) To be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and 3) To have the courage to be obedient to these first two in how we live and make decisions.  Solomon was known as the wisest man that ever lived and the only thing he asked from God when he became king was wisdom.  If he was so wise, how did he fail so badly in his later life?  He lacked the courage and obedience to follow God’s Word and wisdom in his life, leadership and decision making.  We need the humility to ask God for wisdom through faith and to be obedient to follow what He tells us to do.