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I remember reading a story about a businessman in San Antonio, Texas, who
parked his shiny new automobile outside a downtown bank and went inside. When
he returned he found a little shoeshine boy examining the car in wide-eyed
amazement. As he opened the door to get in, the little boy said, “Is this your car
Mister?” “Yes, Son, it’s my car.” “Where did you get it?” the little boy wanted to
know. So the man explained that the car had been given to him as a birthday
present from his brother. “Wow said the little boy “I wish…” And of course the business man was all prepared
to hear the boy say, “I wish I had a brother like that.” But he didn’t say that. Instead the little boy said, Wow,
I wish I could be a brother like that.” And the man was so touched by the boy’s response that he put him in
the car, took him for a ride, bought him a hamburger, and visited with him for a while, hoping to learn
something from the wisdom of this child.

It seems to me that we need to learn the same lesson. There are going to be times when we will be on
the receiving end of life. And this is fine. The truly wise person knows that he or she must get in order to give,
but the main flow of his or her life is outward not inward. One’s primary purpose is not to get but to give; and
this is an element of true wisdom. Therefore, a life of wisdom always involved a willingness to change. This is
true because change is inevitable. We can’t hold it back; it’s going to happen whether we like it or not. Get
out your old school yearbooks, take a look at your pictures then go look in the mirror. You may not approve of
the change, but it’s happening none the less. Everything is changing! One of the most bankrupt of all ideas is
that noon that says we can stand still and keep life just as it is. So change is inevitable; and the person of
true wisdom reckons with that truth.

God is in the business of changing the lives of each and every one of us, to fashion us in the likeness of
His Son Jesus. That, of course, includes you and me, whether we are young or whether we are old. Not one of
us has yet arrived. Not one of us is all that we ought to be. All of which says some changes need to be made
in our lives. And if we are people of wisdom, we will remain open always to that however long God decides we
are to live, however old we may get.