An Inkling
Webster’s Dictionary defines “wisdom” as “accumulated philosophic or scientific learning; insight; and good sense.” Good enough. But what it all boils down to is the ability to tell the difference. We make dozens of choices daily between good and evil, greater and lesser, and so on. The trouble is, it’s not always easy to tell the difference. That’s where we need wisdom.
For example, we need wisdom to tell the difference between: feasting and glutting; greed and prudence; faith and credulity; rest and laziness; drive and driven-ness; luxury and necessity; frankness and brutality; gentle words and insincerity; righteous indignation and self-important rage; true patriotism and blind loyalty; political posturing and high ideals; the preservation of tradition and the fear of change; genuine tolerance and moral laxity; the call of God and the call of ambition; zeal and fanaticism; stubbornness and persistence; pride and self-respect; assertiveness and selfishness; hope and fantasy; indulgence and forgiveness; busyness and vocation; the enduring and the temporal; the valuable and the expensive; justice and charity; and paradox and contradiction.
Wisdom is not the exclusive preserve of religious gurus or PhD’s. It is a gift of God, available to all who follow Jesus. Thus James boldly promises: “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.” What greater gift could God give than a wisdom which can tell the difference?
But unlike pudding, there are no instant versions. Thus, with our wisdom always incomplete, we inevitably make mistakes. But that’s okay, for God does not require that we be wise, just that we be wising up. He is able to capture up even our foolish mistakes into his plan to teach us his kind of wisdom. Our part is to be willing and attentive students.
Wise up, O men of God,
Keith
