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“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge . . .” – Proverbs 12:1 

My Dad was not always the firmest disciplinarian, but he could be when he had to.  The last time I experienced it occurred after I was grown, married and had a child.  I had been struggling with a carrier path, not sure what I wanted to do, when one evening I received a phone call from him sternly reminding me that I had a family to support and demanded in no uncertain terms that I get my rear in gear.  As painful as that conversation was to endure, that kick in the pants was exactly what I needed at the time, and became the catalyst for what turned out to be a long, successful career.

Wisdom and discipline go hand in hand.  Wisdom cannot be attained without discipline; neither will discipline be accepted unless there is a desire to learn.  And it seems to me there are two sources from which we receive discipline.  One is self-imposed or what we refer to as self-discipline.  The other is the instructive, constructive, or corrective discipline we receive from someone else such as that imposed on me by my father.  Both are essential if we want to learn, aspire to excel at something, or desire to gain wisdom.  We must be self-disciplined and also be willing to accept discipline from others.

I read in an article recently that stated, “If you don’t want to learn, even years of schooling will teach you very little.  But if you want to be taught, there is no end to what you can learn.  This includes being willing to accept discipline and correction and to learn from the wisdom of others.  A person who refuses constructive criticism has a problem with pride.  Such a person is unlikely to learn very much.”

In my own life the times I have accepted discipline from others as I did from my Dad, success and accomplishment have ensued.  Likewise, when I have been self-disciplined it has inevitably led to self-improvement.  But too often pride has gotten in my way causing me to avoid constructive criticism from others, and that avoidance has been costly.

The writer of Proverbs encourages us to accept discipline:  “He who listens to a life-giving rebuke,” he says, “will be at home among the wise.”  (Proverbs 15:31)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.” – John 14:1 

The late comedian George Burns who remained active up until the very end of his life at age 100 often boasted jokingly about his daily consumption of a good cigar and a martini.  (Wouldn’t we all love to shatter the longevity odds as he did and still indulge in our favorite unhealthy habit on a daily basis – whether it be ice cream, Snicker bars, chips, sodas, or even martinis and cigars?  Few of us can count on such luck I’m afraid.)  During a rare serious moment in his autobiography, though, even George Burns admitted that there were probably other factors that attributed to his longevity besides his daily dose of martinis and cigars.  One of those had to do with his response to worry.  An example he shared occurred in his late eighties when he was facing open-heart bypass surgery.  When asked if he was worried about the surgery he responded “no”, that was the doctor’s problem not his.

I grew up in a farming community and let me assure you that farmers have a lot to worry about.  They work long, hard, tedious hours improving their property, maintaining machinery, learning new methods, preparing and planting their fields, then nurturing their crops to ensure they are not overtaken by weeds or eaten by insects.  The remainder of the process, though, depends on the forces of nature over which they have no control, leaving plenty of opportunity for worry.  Yet many of the seasoned farmers I knew learned to handle it the same way as George Burns.  Once they had done all they could it became the problem of the One who controls nature not theirs.  Thus many of them managed to live long fulfilling lives in spite of the uncertainties of their profession.

No one’s life is exempt from problems and concerns.  Yet if we allow ourselves to be overcome by worry it can immobilize us; it can damage our health, consume our thoughts, disrupt our productivity, negatively impact the way we treat others, and reduce our ability to trust in God and in others.  Or we can work hard and do all we can then let the rest of it become the doctor’s problem, or nature’s problem – or better yet, the problem of the One who controls all things.  When we do we still may not live as long as George Burns, but there’s a good chance we will live as well as he did.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” – Genesis 1:31 

Did you ever consider that it probably takes more effort to do bad things than it does good?  Think about it.  Thieves, swindlers, drug dealers, and crooks of almost every variety put a lot of thought, planning, creativity and energy into their wicked endeavors.  Consider Bernie Madoff who, like most slick shysters, didn’t spend all his time sitting on the beach.  No, he was operating a huge business that required hard work on his part, not to mention the extra effort required to hide his dishonesty by appearing legitimate.

What if the same amount of time, talent, energy and hard work is used to do good instead of bad?  I had not given much thought to this until recently when my wife brought it up one evening while watching the nightly news on TV, specifically some of the news stories about people doing really evil things.  “With all the opportunities to do good,” she questioned, “why don’t people simply focus their efforts doing good instead of bad?”  It’s a great question.

Two points I would like to make:  The first is that our very creation as human beings is good, and for the purpose of doing good.  “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him. . .” according to Genesis 1.  “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’ . . . God saw all that he made, and it was very good.”  That is to say it is natural by our creation to be and to do good.  Thus doing evil is contrary to nature by the fact that we are created in God’s image, and God declared that “it was very good.”

The second point is, I believe, that somewhere deep down in every person’s soul is a yearning to live a life that is meaningful and good.  Some recognize the opportunities to do good and pour their efforts into those pursuits.  Others become ensnared by evil unable to break free.  I’d like to believe that even Bernie Madoff yearned for a life that was meaningful and good, but became trapped in his own evil scheme.  With all the opportunities to do good, think what might have happened had he focused his efforts doing good instead of bad.

“A father, being on the point of death, wished to be sure that his sons would give the same attention to his farm as he himself had given it.  He called them to his bedside and said, ‘My sons, there is a great treasure hid in one of my vineyards.’  The sons, after his death, took their spades and mattocks and carefully dug over every portion of their land.  They found no treasure, but the vines repaid their labor by an extraordinary and superabundant crop.”  – from Aesop’s fables 

Knowledge is a good thing.  But there is a vast difference between “knowledge” (having the facts) and “wisdom” (applying those facts to life).  In other words, we may amass knowledge, but without wisdom, our knowledge is useless.  We must learn to “live out” what we know.  The father in the fable understood the facts of farming, in particular that vigorous tilling of the soil in the vineyards would produce an abundant harvest, but it was only through his wisdom that he was able to convey this knowledge to his sons in such a way that they in turn would “live it out” and perpetuate his legacy.

“Wise refers to skill in living,” explains Eugene Peterson in his book Earth and Altar.  “It does not mean, primarily, the person who knows the right answers to things but one who has developed the right responses (relationships) to persons, to God.  The wise understand how the world works; know about patience and love, listening and grace, adoration and beauty; know that other people are awesome creatures to be respected and befriended . . . know that God is an ever present center, a never-diminishing reality, an all-encompassing love . . .”

We are often encouraged to be life-long learners, and rightly so.  But more importantly we should strive to become life-long seekers of wisdom – in how to “live out” the knowledge we attain with greater understanding and deeper meaning.

“My sons, there is a great treasure hid in one of my vineyards.”  (Aesop’s fables)  “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life for many years and bring you prosperity.”  (Proverbs 3:1-2)  Wisdom is that great treasure, but we must seek it out and be alert when it appears.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 

Mike and his sidekick Kent were two high school boys I used to hire occasionally to do odd jobs on the ranch we once owned.  Mike, a big bruiser of a guy, was definitely the alpha of the pair and always the spokesman.  I loved his attitude because every time I asked them to do something he would always answer, “Yeah, we can to that.”  I never heard him express any doubt about any task I ever asked them to do.  In his mind, I do believe, they could do anything.  Of course, most of the chores I had for them were of the manual labor variety and those guys, especially Mike, were plenty strong.

One great story I heard about Mike and Kent occurred when they were young teenagers, a couple of years before I began engaging them to work for me.  They had been offered a job hauling an old upright piano from someone’s home.  In payment for their service they got to keep the piano and do with it whatever they pleased.  The boys, of course, saw dollar signs figuring they could polish it up a bit and sell it for a tidy sum.  So they loaded the piano on a flatbed trailer hitched behind a pickup truck they had borrowed from one of their dads and off they went with Mike at the wheel.  All went well until Mike rounded a curve a little too fast slinging the piano off the trailer into the middle of the highway where it smashed into a million pieces.  Poor Kent just stood there in the road starring at this disastrous mess shaking his head.  Then Mike came over and put his arm around his distraught friend.  “Don’t worry, buddy,” he said cheerfully, “we can fix it!”  Of course, they had about as much chance putting Humpty-Dumpty back together as that old smashed up piano.

Now Mike may have been a little over confident at times, sometimes biting off more than he could chew, but I have to say this about those two guys; they always worked together as a team.  They knew that two are better than one; for if one falls down, his friend is there to help him up. . . . “But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”