It is so tempting as humans to seek revenge on someone who have wronged us.

Today, we live in a "dog-eat-dog" world where one does whatever he has to in order to survive. It is a world void of honesty, dignity, honor, and of mercy. Moral standards are virtually non-existent, and the mention of a higher power (God) rarely heard.

This is not the kind of world Solomon imagined when instructing his son concerning wisdom, and day-to-day living.

His wisdom was not only for his son’s benefit, but those of you who want to know what’s what; who need to get to grips with the deeper things in life; for a life in control and going somewhere; for those who are committed to doing the right thing. It is for giving common sense to the uneducated, for helping the young know what’s right and making sure they buy into it. His message was clear: "Wise Up!!" "Acknowledge God in all your ways and he will direct your path."

My appeal to you: Let the wise guys listen and learn some more. Let the enlightened watch the lights come on as you listen to the wise man directing his son using whatever information at his disposal; whether it be old wise sayings, illustrations, even riddles; whatever he had to get the message across.

We can learn a thing or two from Solomon. He was no amateur, but a man well versed in street sense. He kicks off his instruction with the mother of all humanity: Wisdom.

Get Wise or Get Lost. Only idiots write off Wisdom and ignore discipline and proper training. A life that is Wisdom-free is a life headed for ruin.

He continues by instructing his son to respect and reverence God, because as wisdom would have it, God is the one "handling things. If we are "going to make it" then we must base our confidence on Him and build our lives on the principles he sets in place and not on our flimsy ideas.

In everything we take on, Solomon notes that we are to put God at the head of our list of credits, and he will direct us. Giving God respect and giving evil the cold shoulder is better than double the daily dose of vitamins and minerals we consume to keep us healthy. After all, we are incapable of knowing what is best for us.

We need to recognize that God is the sole reason we prosper, and in doing so, we won’t mind giving Him the best of what we have: our first fruits; a tenth of our possessions. "When we give God the first," he writes, "we get more." With God, sums don’t work: 1+1 doesn’t equal 2 with Him. God multiplies the fruits of seeds sown.

Very early in life, I learned from my mother (a lifelong giver), that it is totally impossible to give more than God. In obedience to Him and His precepts, (laws, commandments) we can have as much as God promised Abraham. Just as God promised Abraham that his seed would be as many as the sands of the seashore, (innumerable) so would our possessions be also.

Having full knowledge of God’s promises, Satan is always ready to launch an attack on God’s people. Since the fall of man, his primary agenda has been to influence believers into denying that God is a man of promise. His reply to Eve is a perfect example: "Ye shall not surely die: For God know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, ………". Here, he tempts Eve into believing that she will be as gods, with wisdom and full knowledge of what is going on. This within itself is a lie; no one will ever be like God. He is our Father who loves us unconditionally, and when we really wise up, with the wisdom Solomon possessed, Satan and his followers won’t stand a chance. He might hammer at us with the words of doubt and uncertainty, "If thou be," but our reply will be, "Get behind me."

Only then will we have grasped the idea. Only then will we have accepted and realize that the word on the street is real: "The night is far spent and the day is at hand. We got to be about God’s business; the day of reckoning is here. People are dying in need of the Hope God has trusted us to deliver.

In my Christian walk, I have come upon those people. Individuals in charge. People who are not bothered by Satan nor his lies; who know that putting God first keeps them on top. They offer up themselves and give Him the first fruits of their increase.

These are the people we read about in magazines and see on the TV screen. They have sold out for Christ and won’t consider nothing but making it to the finish line. God does not have to prove Himself to them. They govern their lives by the promises God made to Abraham.

We who are stumbling at every turn better wise up and take a lesson from them. Trust God and have complete confidence in Him only. The hour is at hand. There are signs all around us of what is soon to come. Jesus left us with instructions as to what would be occurring in the last days. It would be a shame for us who have professed Christ all of our natural lives to end as lost souls.

People, God is not going to sit around waiting until we get it together. We better get right or we are going to get left. (behind I mean !!!)

We preach about "sinners don’t do this, and sinners don’t do that", but the day is coming (actually, it’s already here) that the last is going to be first and the first (the so-called believers, church goers) are going to be last. The scripture declares, "If God spared not the angel that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." II Peter 2:4.

Now if God won’t spare one of His very own (an angel), He won’t think twice about casting us into outer darkness. First, He warns, and then He reacts. At present He is warning us about things, which are to come just as Solomon warned his son how to act and conduct himself wisely.

Acknowledge God. Give Him your first fruits (tithes). Avoid lying, dishonesty, fornication, deceit, greed, selfishness, and slothfulness.

We are told to consider the ant who works all summer to prepare for the winter. My dear friends, winter is coming in our lives. "The winter of our discontent." The times when we can barely make it. The job market is declining and inflation is at an all time high. People are starving; nations are devastated and poverty-stricken. Sickness and disease are rampant and the harvest is short of laborers.

We had better wise up!!! That’s the word on the street. If we don’t offer hope and do it soon, we are all doomed to perish. Time is fleeing swiftly. Months seem like days and weeks are like hours. God is shortening the days to give us a chance. He loves us and longs for us to meet Him at that "prepared place."

The word is nigh thee: they are the words of Peter, " We had better get right or we, too, won’t be spared."

By Travestine J. Wright