The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you.  Blessings, Jim Whiddon

251. OBEDIENCE “Judas heard all Christ’s sermons.” That’s a quote from Thomas Goodwin, and I find it chilling. Think on that for a moment. Judas heard every sermon our Lord preached. He was an eyewitness of every miracle. But he never obeyed; he never yielded on the inside.”

Excerpt From: Farrar, Steve. “True Courage.”

252. OPPORTUNITY “The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.”

— John Burroughs

253. CRISIS PREVENTION “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

— John F. Kennedy

254. COMMITTEES “The unwilling picked from the unfit to do the unnecessary.”

Excerpt From: Michael O’Malley, Ph.D. “The Wisdom of Bees.”

255. CHILDREN “When children are young, give them roots; when they grow, give them wings.”

— Unknown

256. CONFUCIUS “When you are joyful, do not make promises; when you are angry, do not mail a letter.”

257. MANHOOD “The first false idea about manhood is the idea of being macho—of being a big shot and using strength to be domineering and to bully those who are weaker. Obviously this is not God’s idea of what a real man is. It’s someone who has not grown up emotionally, who might be a man on the outside, but who on the inside is simply an insecure and selfish boy. The second false choice is to be emasculated—to essentially turn away from your masculinity and to pretend that there is no real difference between men and women. Your strength as a man has no purpose, so being strong isn’t even a good God’s idea of manhood is something else entirely: God’s idea of making men strong was so that they would use that strength to protect women and children and anyone else. There’s something heroic in that. Male strength is a gift from God, and like all gifts from God, it’s always and everywhere meant to be used to bless others.”

Excerpt From: Metaxas, Eric. “Seven Men.”

258. WAITING “We tend to think that if God is really engaged, He will change things within the next hour or so. Certainly by sundown. Absolutely by the end of the week. But God is not a slave to the human clock. Compared to the works of mankind, He is extremely deliberate and painfully slow. As religious poet George Herbert wisely penned, “God’s mill grinds slow, but sure.” . . .”

Excerpt From: Charles R. Swindoll. “Wisdom for the Way.”

259. NATIONAL DECLINE “We can follow the advice of Demosthenes when asked what was to be done about the decline of Athens. His reply? “I will give what I believe is the fairest and truest answer: Don’t do what you are doing now.”

Excerpt From: Krauthammer, Charles. “Things That Matter.”

260. GOD’S PHONE “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” JEREMIAH 33:3 God’s phone number. The line is never busy. Your call never goes to voice mail. He always answers—and He answers in a way that far exceeds our most optimistic expectations (Ephesians 3:20).

Excerpt From: O. S. Hawkins. “The Joshua Code.”