Get understanding…

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

Proverbs 4:7

 At the tender age of eight, I was led down the aisle of my church, by my mother’s coworker, and I gave my life to the Christ. If you reread that sentence, you will see why this message is so important. I do not know if I knew what I was doing that day and do not remember if anyone talked me through who I was agreeing to be. All I know is that shortly after that day, I was donned in all white, dipped in a baptismal pool, and called a Christian from that day forth. Most children are well aware of what they are doing when they decide to give their lives to God, but I am sure that my walk down the aisle was prompted by the recent discovery of my trauma. So that was it! I was baptized and now I was a Christian…but I was also eight and I had no clue what that meant.

I left that church when I was 10 years old and I started attending my bestie’s church, where her father was (and still is) the pastor. I never formally joined the church, I just kept going week after week and then soon joined ministry after ministry. When I got my first job at 17 years old, I even started tithing to the church, because that is what Pastor said Christians should do. Growing up in a Baptist church, we often talked about tithing and the amount to give, so I think fear led me to tithe…not an actual understanding of why I was tithing.

I left that church, unofficially, in 2011 when I moved 60 miles west of Baltimore. I would still come back weekly for service, but I did not serve on any ministries anymore. After some time, Pastor sat me down and told me it was time to join another church in Frederick. Since he was my earthly father and pastor, I listened to him and decided to check out this specific church in Frederick where he knew the pastor. I got up one Sunday morning and went to eight a.m. service. Little did I know at the time, but the man who stepped into the pulpit to preach was not the pastor that my pastor knew, it was actually the assistant pastor. While I do not remember the sermon, I remember thinking, “WOW! This message is speaking to my heart!” I began coming back Sunday after Sunday, just to hear this man preach. After a few visits, I decided to formally join the church. In hindsight, I only joined the church because my former church’s covenant said, “…in departing from this place, I will as soon as possible unite with some like church, where I can carry out the Spirit of the Covenant and the principle of God’s word.” I wanted to be obedient…but I also wanted to hear this preacher preach.

Eventually that assistant pastor left and began his own church. I did not leave immediately when he left because I did not want to jump on a bandwagon and I did not want to have another church membership under my belt (both of those statements made sense to 28-year-old Michelle however, 31-year-old Michelle sees the flaws in the thought). After staying for some time, I realized that I was not being fed the way that my soul needed. I stepped out on another leap of faith and ventured to the new church. As soon as I opened the church doors, I felt the Spirit of the Lord rush over and through me. I felt the Spiritual fire of the church that day and my life has never been the same since.

I did join that church and I have been a member since January 2015. I was even still listed as a member as I battled through my depression and when I lived in Virginia for those 11 months. But it was in these past four months of my membership when I truly learned why God had led me to this church: because this was where my healing would begin.

Open your bibles to Proverbs 4

In this chapter, Solomon (king of Israel, and son of David) is saying that we should heed the words of our parents. Explicitly, he recalls the words of his father, telling him to heed the words of his mother regarding acquiring wisdom. When we reach verse seven we see this:

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

I spent my entire life in church, under the sound leadership of amazing pastors, gaining much spiritual wisdom…but it was not until recently when I finally got understanding.

In my understanding, I realized that my entire life as a Christian has been gift wrapped in pretty packaging to look a certain way but has never been authentic until recently. My praise was phony and worship was wiggidy wiggidy wiggidy wack (Shout Kris Kross!). I shouted Amen when everyone else shouted and I was too prim and proper to allow the Holy Spirit to move freely within me. I was religious, but I had no relationship with the Father.

In my understanding, I can clearly see what a difference there is between religion and relationship. I see the errors of my spiritual youth and I continue to grow, daily, in His word. Wisdom and knowledge have come, yes, but it is through true understanding that I am able to live the words that I read.

Beloved, the hour is late and the time for inauthentic worship has long since passed. It is time to be intentional in how we praise, worship, learn, and serve. We must continue to spend time in the word, learning who God is and how He plans on using us in His kingdom. Beloved…

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

Be blessed.