Musings: 7/2/08;Wisdom by JAH

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:6

What comes into your mind when you hear the word "wisdom"? It's an important word. It appears approximately 117 times in the Old Testament, and 60 times in the New Testament. That's about 177 times it is used in the Bible. (I counted them, but I may have missed a couple, or added a couple).

When I think of wisdom, the first thing that pops in my mind is a picture a Guru on a mountaintop in Tibet or somewhere completely apart from the world. Then my thoughts turn to men the world considers wise.

I think of the three magi visiting Jesus at his birth. I think of Solomon. He settled the argument between two mothers in I Kings 3 about a baby two women claimed as their own.

I think of Albert Einstein developing the theory of relativity, and his third grade teacher told his parents it was a waste of time to have him in school. He would never learn anything!

I think of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the German theologian, philosopher, music expert and also a medical missionary. Sounds like a wise man, doesn't he? He established a medical mission in Africa. He was highly respected all over the world. I didn't, and don't care for his theology, but I respect what he did. He himself respected all of God's creation so much that he would not even harm a fly. In fact, he hired a man to go about the hospital with a jar and a sheet of paper. He would slip up on a fly, put the open mouth of the jar over it, and then slip the paper under the jar. At that point, he carried the fly outside and turned it loose. (What a way to make a living!!!)

There are many, many lost men who should be praised for their accomplishments, but for whom we should also feel sorry because of their plight!
I Corinthians 3: 18 says, "Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a 'fool' so that he may become wise."

I don't think Guru's are really wise according to biblical standards. The men I mentioned were certainly wise in good ways, but perhaps a little eccentric in some ways as were Einstein and Schweitzer.

Do you think of yourself as wise? Maybe you should, and maybe you should not. Perhaps the question should be, where does your wisdom come from? Psalm 111:10; "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

If your wisdom begins with God, it is definitely the best kind of wisdom. I Corinthians 3: 19 - 23 says; "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness;' and again, 'The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.' So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death of the present or the future--all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God."

If you want to be Biblically wise, you can be, James 1:5 says, " If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

We need to be aware that being wise can be hazardous to our health. Luke 21:15 says; "For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict." Jesus made that promise because He knew that we would get in trouble with the world if we really live for Him, and when it happens, He will empower us to be good witnesses to our enemies!

We naturally hope that doesn't happen at all even though we know it will.

In the meantime, we need to be more than aware that we can be wise now. In Acts 6: 3, the apostles told the church who they were to choose as deacons; "Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

Acts 6: 10 tells us they made a good choice with Stephen. "but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke."

In all of the deacon ordinations I've attended and taken part in, I've never heard anyone read and comment on those verses. I trust that we approve both ministers and deacons who are "full of the
Spirit and wisdom." It's important to God's kingdom for us to have the very best of His children in those positions.

At the same time, most of us who hold the position of pastor or deacon probably feel completely unworthy deep down in our hearts, and we have to constantly remind ourselves that God chose us. We aren't perfect, and "God alone can hit a straight lick with a crooked stick" as an old saying goes.

We begin to be wise when we put our trust in Jesus. That is the wisest thing anyone can ever do! After that we ask God for wisdom, not once, but over and over again. Think of Psalm 23: 5; "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Where wisdom is concerned, our cup overflows continually as God fills us with wisdom. It's up to us to use every bit of the overflow that we can.