God's Word and Sakal Wisdom

One of the main words in the Old Testament for wisdom is sakal. The source of sakal is the heart of God expressed with the word of God. When the living and creative word of God is trusted from your life in Christ, it grows and produces fruit. Behaving wisely (sakal) is the fruit of God’s word.

But the world, the flesh, and the devil are also speaking today, loudly. In Genesis 4:7, God spoke to Cain to change the direction he was headed, and said, “…sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” The sin that God was speaking about was the sin that was in Cain’s heart to kill Abel, his brother. It was in his heart ready to spring into action and come out. Since Cain rejected God’s word (as seen by his actions in 4:8), that sin was simply waiting for the right occasion, which came in 4:8.

Jesus spoke of this in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) where He taught that the source of our actions is our hearts and minds; conceived in the heart, developed in the mind, birthed and carried out with the body. Jesus taught that we needed a new heart. Through faith in Jesus Christ you receive a new heart, a new life, His life, fully pleasing to the Father.

But you still have your same old sinful mind, will, emotions, and body. And like Cain, sin is crouching at the door, ready for an occasion to come out, and its desire is for you. Romans 6 – 8 outlines how to overcome the power of sin and its relentless knocking at the door to come out.

When you receive Jesus Christ you are saved (past tense, completed action) from the penalty of your sins (plural, as in all of them). By the Holy Spirit living in you, you are now being saved (present tense, ongoing action) from the power of sin (singular, as in the lie of sin). And one day, Hallelujah, you will be saved (future tense, completed action) from the presence of sin, which is the resurrection body being guarded in heaven for you, 1 Peter 1:3 – 5.

Choosing to listen to the Holy Spirit, Who lives in you, with you, through you, as you, before the Father and the watching world around you, rather than to the lie of the world, the flesh, and the devil, will create in you the right response to whatever is going on around you.

You have no choice over what happens to you, but you do have a choice as to what happens in you. When you choose to trust what God has said, He creates sakal, which is the right response to whatever is happening to you at the time. The right response is an expression of the heart of God, the life of Jesus, and brings pleasing glory to the Father.

This is what worshiping the Father in spirit and truth looks like in everyday living! And it comes from the new heart, through faith and servant thoughts, and spiritual discipline over the body. As the body catches on, and it will, a new habit is formed, just as the old ones were with sin. The old dies and the new reigns with Christ! Hallelujah!

Today, listen to what God has said, trust what God has said, your servant thoughts are eager to serve you to carry out sakal, so that you will behave wisely in every situation of the day.

Tomorrow, a different Hebrew word for wisdom, bayin!