Recently my wife rearranged our living room. I tend not to make such adjustments, but over a few weeks; I’ve come to appreciate the changes that improved flow and work over the previous room configuration. One of the changes was that she moved my chair from one side of the room to the other. For the first few days when I started walking toward my chair, I would instinctively go the wrong way. Even after six weeks, I caught myself taking two or three steps in the wrong direction. 

We read in scripture that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52, NIV) A take-away from this verse is recognizing that Jesus’ growth in wisdom, integrity, and relationship with God was ongoing. As He became older, He learned more. While He had wisdom from God directly, my interpretation of this verse also indicates that he participated in an ongoing growth effort.

I tend to read at least two hours every evening. I find that reading is more productive and useful than watching endless banter on political programs or most other TV productions. This time allows me to read quite a few books.  Of course, some are better than others.

Sometimes I re-read some of the best books two or three times to take better notes that I did the first time through. For example, when you see a well-done movie several times; you start picking up things that you glossed over or missed the first time through. By watching the movie again, you pick up on nuances and other information.

There is no shortage of training material, including the material on our Business Proverbs site. The training articles on this site and others are man-written.  King David wrote, “praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” (Psalm 144:1, NIV)

 When I read business books, articles or engage in training; I ask the Lord in advance to show me important takeaways. I want to remember the parts that will advance my business and the parts that will lead to righteous business execution. Often, we think it’s the next training, seminar or book that will move our business forward.  However, David reminds us that it is the Lord who trains our hands and fingers. The Lord is the Good Teacher who will give us the insights we need better than any human can.

Ask the Lord for his guidance and training every day. You will be amazed at the what God and God alone will provide.

I have always thought of watches as a timepiece.  Since I like to be on time, I’ve used many different watches that were created to help me tell time. The first watch I can remember having was a Roy Rogers watch, which, if I still possessed it, would sell for $300 to $400.  Maybe it’s a reminder that we shouldn’t always throw old things away.

Over the years, watches have evolved into calendars and much more. I generally have bought inexpensive watches because I tended to knock them around a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever paid much over one hundred dollars for a watch, generally less.