God’s creation isn’t haphazard. Behind it is an unimaginably great genius—God and His wisdom principles. He designed every species on earth to efficiently reproduce after its kind while contributing to the well-being of the whole system.
We can apply God’s wisdom principles to our lives and our kingdom-building assignments. They are resources to fulfill our purpose of reproducing disciples.
God commands the plant and animal kingdoms and human beings to multiply after their kind (Genesis 1:11–12, 20–24, 28). His grace makes His commands achievable.
Jesus commands churches to multiply followers who obey Him and are becoming progressively more like Him (Matthew 28:18–20). God’s grace makes it possible (2 Corinthians 9:8).
More and more people becoming more and more like Jesus is the standard. Let’s not substitute growing congregations and offerings for it. Bigger churches aren’t necessarily better than smaller ones. Churches with great resources might not be superior. Is a church making more and more people more and more like Jesus proportional to its resources? That’s the standard.
What kind of people we have in our church is more important than how many. Mature Christians obey and serve Jesus and empower others to do the same. Applying God’s wisdom principles enables us to do that efficiently.
Plants and animals using energy efficiently increase the chance they will reproduce after their kind. They maximize their energy input while minimizing their energy output. Consider some examples.
Northern pike don’t waste energy chasing their next meal around the lake. They ambush their prey by hiding around aquatic vegetation. They rocket out of their hiding places a few feet for their next meal.
Walleyes don’t spend all their time looking for food. They feed mostly at dawn and dusk when their unique eye structure enables them to see in low-light conditions. That gives them an advantage over their prey.
Alaskan grizzly bears prepare for winter by eating only the fattest, most calorie-dense parts of salmon. Thereby, they gain hundreds of pounds of stored energy.
Groundhogs hibernate over winter. By doing so, they expend little energy while their food supply is scarce.
Each creature uniquely uses energy efficiently to reproduce successfully. Underlying are God’s wisdom principles—interdependence, multiplication, using everything for their benefit, maximum usage, mutual benefit, and fruitfulness. In future blogs, we’ll consider them in that order and apply them to fulfilling our purpose.
In nature, these six wisdom principles operate automatically. Plants and animals don’t consciously apply them. We must. If we do, we’ll influence more people to be Jesus’ obedient followers than if we don’t. #freechristiandiscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources
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