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Keep Wisdom and It Will Keep You · Men's Morning Devotional

• 0:02
  Gentlemen, every day is a battle. A battle for your faith, your family, and your purpose. The men who stand strong don't prepare when the battle arrives. They prepare before it begins. Welcome to the Men's Morning Devotional. Let's get into God's Word. It's time to man up.
• 0:27
  All right, men, it is Wednesday. Welcome back to the Men's Morning Devotional. My name is Chris Alexakis. And I'm really glad that you're joining us here today. I want to pause again and just encourage you to share this with another brother, another friend. We've been getting some great feedback from our guys. Somebody even said it's like the maximum ROI. It's 5 minutes, the shortest amount of time for a podcast, but the return is huge. And we agree.
• 0:51
  Maybe you've already heard me say this twice this week, and the third time is the charm. So share it with a buddy, because we've really been building to this all week. The first two days have been dedicated to the verses in Proverbs seven, where Solomon's really making the point to keep wisdom intentionally. But today he
• 1:09
  flips the whole thing. He says this in verse four: Say to wisdom,"You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend, to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth
• 1:20
  words. And here's your man up moment: You keep wisdom. And then wisdom will keep you.
• 1:29
  words. And here's your man up moment: Did you catch that turn? In verse four, he's telling us to call wisdom our sister. Now I've got three sisters, and I understand that intimate relationship with a sister. Solomon's telling us here not to call wisdom our acquaintance or somebody we just consult with occasionally, but family—somebody that we're in a daily relationship with, whose voice you know, whose presence you're comfortable in.
• 1:57
  words. And here's your man up moment: Solomon is describing a man whose relationship with wisdom is so close and so familiar that wisdom has become a part of how he sees and moves through the world. And then verse 5 lands with this payoff that wisdom actually keeps you. You keep wisdom, and then wisdom keeps you. That's what makes Proverbs 7 so special to me. Last time I got to host the podcast, we talked about a principled man who chooses the right road.
• 2:28
  words. And here's your man up moment: But this week is about the garden man, a man who protects what he has, and in that way he becomes protected.
• 2:36
  words. And here's your man up moment: His own faithfulness and obedience becomes his defense. Think about what it looks like practically. The man who has spent years keeping his thought life clean. Who has guarded what he watches, what he dwells on, and what he allows into his heart, he finds that when temptation shows up, he's not running on empty or starting from zero. The wisdom he's kept has built walls he didn't have to consciously construct in the moment. It's like a teaching my dad did for our staff a while back about our boundaries. You don't set up boundaries when you're weak, you set them up when you're strong. And if we keep Wisdom as a core discipline, we guard it. Well, then eventually it does guard us.
• 3:23
  words. And here's your man up moment: The man who has been honest with himself and those around him finds that when the pressure comes to try to lie, something in him resists before he's even decided to. It's like something just rises up in him and says, "We're not a liar. We don't make excuses. This isn't who." We are.
• 3:42
  words. And here's your man up moment: And this is why the daily disciplines matter so much, even when they feel small. Every morning you give to God, every time you choose the harder right thing over the easier wrong one, every time you guard your eyes or your tongue or your integrity, you're building something.
• 4:01
  words. And here's your man up moment: And that something will stand between you and destruction on the day when those smooth, words come. So here's your man-up challenge for the day. Reflect on this question.
• 4:12
  words. And here's your man up moment: Maybe you're on a run or on a drive. Where has wisdom already kept you? Think of a moment, a temptation you didn't fall into, or a decision that you made correctly, and trace it back to the discipline you'd built. Let that be your evidence that keeping wisdom works. Then identify one discipline you need to strengthen so it can keep you in the future. Let's pray.
• 4:40
  words. And here's your man up moment: Father, thank you that wisdom isn't just something we keep, but something that keeps us. It's not just something we pursue; it's something that protects us. So help us keep it faithfully, so it can keep us when we need it the most. Build walls in us that we don't even know are there. Walls to protect. In Jesus' name, amen.
• 5:05
  words. And here's your man up moment: All right, gentlemen, you've heard God's word. Now go live it. Lead well. Stand strong. Honor God in everything you do. Share this devotional with another brother. Remember, every day is another opportunity to man up.