Today’s Scripture Reading (March 27,
2013): Proverbs 3
It is
impossible to fill a glass that is already full. It is an obvious statement,
but it is surprising how often we seem to miss that simple understanding. I am maybe
one of the worst offenders. No matter what the container is, I seem to always
think that it should fit just a little more. And no matter what the container
is, the end result is always the same. At some point the container either
overflows or it breaks, and everything that I have placed in the container
simply falls out. There is a limit to what the container can hold – a limit
that cannot be exceeded.
Proverbs
points to the danger of us being filled with our own wisdom. Because if we
believe that we are wise and not in need of gaining wisdom, there will be no
room for the wisdom of God to take root in our lives. We have already arrived.
Unfortunately, it often seems to be precisely that attitude that we think is
expected of us in our culture. So we work hard at being wise – or at least in
pretending that we are wise.
The reverse
attitude is to fear God. The word translated fear is the Hebrew word yare'
and while it does carry the connotation of being
afraid of God, it also carries the meaning of standing in awe of him. We stand
in awe of a God that in his being contains more wisdom than we could ever dream
was possible. And it is that vast repository of wisdom that is available to us,
if we are willing to recognize our own lack of wisdom. And the more empty of
wisdom that we can become, the more room there is in our lives for the wisdom that
can only come to us from God.
We have a
choice. We can either be wise in our own eyes, or we can be heirs to God’s
wisdom. But we will never be both – that is just not possible.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Proverbs 4
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