I’ve been thinking a lot about wisdom over the past few days. I’m bombarded with news and information, much of which seems to be constantly changing and some of it is downright contradictory. I want to be wise through it all and make sound judgments. Isn’t that what we’re all trying to do right now?

The Book of Psalms opens with a contrast between the wise and the foolish. Psalm 1:1-2 say:

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he mediates day and night.

One of the key features that distinguishes the foolish from the wise is how they relate to the Word of God. Are we enticed by the folly of sin or do we delight in the Word? With so many of our social events and sources of entertainment cancelled, we’re all left to fill that time with something. The temptation might be to fill those hours with your favorite TV shows, but let me suggest something else. Use this time to study your Bible more.

I’m not saying you have to spend all your free hours in the Bible, but I’m suggesting you see this as an opportunity. Spend more time in your Bible. Study some theology. Read a good Christian book. As you’re sitting at home munching on your quarantine snacks, be intentional about feeding your soul too!

Here are a couple of resources you might find helpful:

Try Something New – I broke from my normal pattern of Bible reading yesterday. I’ve been reading the Psalms, but instead I read the whole of Philippians. As I was reading, I highlighted passages about suffering in red and passages about God’s good providence in green. Seeing these colors highlighted something precious to me. God uses our sufferings for good. That’s relevant right about now, isn’t it? Maybe now’s the time to try something new that your usual routine doesn’t leave time for.

Listen Online - Ligonier Ministries is making their extensive library of teaching available for free online. If you’ve ever had theological questions (and I know you do), this might be a great time to explore some answers. Listen to a few sermons by your favorite preacher. One of mine is Tim Keller and many of his sermons are free online.

Read a Book – Two of my favorite recommendations are Prodigal God by Tim Keller and Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. If you haven’t read either of these, now’s a great time!

I’ve been tempted to approach social distancing with an attitude of scarcity rather than plenty. Yes, there’s lots of things I can’t do right now – but that creates space for many things I can do. One of those is to study the Scriptures more deeply. That’s the wise thing to do.