In the last two weeks’ Word for the Week, I encouraged you to become wise by reading the Bible. Interestingly, the same Bible teaches that wisdom is also attained by studying the past. Before we delve further into that, let me take this opportunity to thank our Worship Team for bringing us into the presence of God on Sunday.

The praise and worship was so beautiful that nine year old Esther, a child to Bob and Ann Asiimwe, cried. As she did, she told my wife who was next to her: “Aunt Geraldine, see the tears; I am crying”. She later told her parents that they should not miss attending church next Sunday. Therefore, thank you Juliana, Albert, Andrew, Bruce, William, Norman, Praise and Teddy. You blessed the Lord and we His people, including little Esther.

Now, back to studying the past to gain wisdom. In order to inspire you to love history, here are some quotes from within and ‘without’ the Bible worth pondering.

• Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died . . . they buried him . . . When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. (Judges 2:8-11)

• Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. (Psalms 78:1-8)

• Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition. (1 Corinthians 10:11)

During his encounter with Jesus at age 12, Roberts Liardon, author of the God’s Generals series, received a commission to study the lives of God’s great men and women – to find out why some of them succeeded and why others failed. Jesus told him that there will come a generation that will need those history lessons. Evidently, there are people who already knew this to be true of history:

• Next to God’s Word, History is the richest foundation of wisdom and the surest guide. (Philip Schaff)

• Those who cannot remember the past are destined to repeat it. (George Santayana)

• History is philosophy with examples. (Henry Bolingbroke)

Therefore, it is wisdom to study history; the person who does so will grow wise.

God bless you.