One of the great dilemmas that we have in Christianity today is that too many people are content with knowing the words of God (memorization) without understanding them. They can tell you all the Bible stories and quote all the Scriptures to you, but they have absolutely no concept of what God is talking about. Knowledge you can get on your own, but understanding you can only get from God. Simply knowing what Bible says is not enough to successfully navigate through life. The devil knows the Bible. He can quote it. He quoted Scripture to the Lord Jesus in the temptation, but does he understand it? No. And neither will we apart from God. If we could understand God, His ways, and His word apart from Him, we would have reason to be proud. God makes it clear to us that no understanding that we have in spiritual matters is innate within ourselves. We are hopelessly and helplessly ignorant, so that He gets all the honor and glory and praise.

Proverbs 1:5 says, “A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel.” The phrase, “wise counsel” is actually a nautical term that carries the idea of “managing the ropes.” If you have previously heard the expression “learning the ropes,” this is where it comes from. When a sailor would go to sea, one of the first things they would teach him was how to tie different knots, how to raise and lower the sails, how to secure the boat to a dock. If you knew the ropes, you could do almost anything on the ship. You could take advantage of the wind to speed your progress through the water. You could navigate away from storms and dangerous reefs. A person with good understanding from God knows the ropes.

When I was about ten years old, someone gave me a scale model of a three-masted schooner to build. It was wood. I began constructing it per the instructions that came with it. I built the body of the ship and put the masts down in it, and then tried to set the sails up. The model came with a whole bunch of string for the ropes. It did not just have one little rope that went to each sail. Each sail had many ropes, and there were multiple sails. I had strings going here and strings going there. I ended up giving up. I had a model ship all right, but it was a three-masted schooner without ropes. If you are going to make it through life without shipwrecking your life, your marriage, your parent-child relationships, your business relationship, your relationship with God, your relationship with your neighbors, your brothers and sisters in Christ, and your siblings; if you hope to live life without shipwreck, God says, “You need My understanding to learn the ropes.”

I want to learn the ropes. I want to learn to navigate through this treacherous life that we live. I want to be able to navigate the ship of my life successfully, not just for myself, but for others. I have children. I have grandchildren. I have a congregation full of people. I must set the right example for them. I take my responsibilities seriously. The same God Who gave understanding to Solomon will give it to you and me! We have a responsibility to live our lives in such a way in our sphere of influence that when people look at us they are going to see us as God’s servants. We need to recognize that the opportunities and privileges that God has given to us are not of our own making or something that we can be proud of, but we need to in humility recognize and acknowledge it is all of Him. Then, we need to be serious about this matter of our responsibility to others. We are an influence for either good or evil to everyone we know. God has placed us strategically in this world, in this culture, in this generation, so that we can make a personal, spiritual, and eternal difference in people’s lives. But, it will not take place apart from divine understanding. Learn the ropes and sail the seas successfully.

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