Prudent

Proverbs 13:15-16 (NKJV)
15 Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard. 16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool lays open his folly.

Prudent – ‘Acting with or showing care and thought for the future’
Synonyms – Wise / Well advised / sensible / sage / shrewd / cautious / thrifty
Latin word provident…foreseeing or attending to


This word has lost circulation over the years.

Look at the time span: 180s – 2010
In the 1800s it was used .003% in the English language (about 30,000 times for 1 billion people)
In the new millennium it was used .0005% in English (about 35,000 times for 7 billion people)

As you can see it dropped dramatically.
These statistics basically tell us what we should already know about our society and culture…that is we care more about Today, than we do Tomorrow.

Over the past 200+ years, we’ve failed in exercising wisdom, planning, and taking godly counsel. This is why people continue to make the same mistakes over and over again; those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. We also assume that tomorrow will be at our disposal failing to prepare for the potential dangers that lie ahead.

Isaiah 22:12-13 (NKJV)
12 And in that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth. 13 But instead, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

1 Corinthians 10:7-12 (NKJV)
7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Do you have a tomorrow? If so, what are your plans? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? I’m not talking about what you wish to see, but the actual plans you have in place.

Proverbs 13:4 (NKJV)
4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

As the old saying goes, ‘No one plans to fail, but many fail to plan…’
As a man of God, you have to have a plan in motion if you’re going to fulfill what God has for your life. This goes beyond calling – even on a personal level.

- Losing weight
- Getting out of debt
- Owning your own place
- Getting married
- Gaining a career

You need a plan! You can’t wander through life, hoping things will ‘get better’, and they won’t if you don’t put things in order and handle your business!

Luke 9:51-52 (NKJV)
A Samaritan Village Rejects the Savior
51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.

Do you see Jesus? He had His mind made up, He began to put things in motion so as to fulfill His purpose for being on earth…we need to follow suit.

Success is not an accident…it’s a well thought out plan!