Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee. May our Heavenly Father pur out His wisdom on us through the Holy Spirit. Father make us wise according to your knowledge and understanding. But also help us not to ever think that your wisdom is to our credit, Father. It is so easy to become full of ourselves, to mistake the worth of your wisdom as coming from within us. Gently humble us today. In the name of your son Jesus, please help us to see ourselves rightly before you. Let us turn all praise to you, Father.
Your Morning Song: "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" by Matt Redman
Your Morning Scripture: Proverbs 2:6-8
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright,
He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for He guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
...
How often and how easily we quickly adopt the good things growing in us, as if we were responsible for them. When instead, the good things in us are given to us and grown in us by God.
Take wisdom, for example. Our hearts, which are to be guarded, not followed, crave credit for wisdom. Even those of us who have been born again from above will still struggle with this temptation. We long to be seen as wise, to be praised as wise. We crave the admiration of others. We crave a legacy. We crave a reputation.
But if God is the one who gives wisdom, from whose mouth comes knowledge and understanding, then what claim to do we have on it? And if in our God-given wisdom we experience success in a moment or in a lifetime it is God who gives out success, not a thing we ourselves created or obtained.
Where does our wisdom come from? God will allow His children to live by their own wisdom in their day to day lives. He will allow us, His children, to claim His credit, to raid His store of success, for a time.
But our Heavenly Father is not so cruel as to give us His wisdom if we are simply going to claim it as our own. He is not so cruel as to give us His knowledge and understanding if we pretend it came from our mouths and not His.
He will not give us success. He will not shield us from His healing discipline. He will not guard our course or protect our way. Unless we are willing to humble ourselves before God and receive His wisdom.
How often do we give God credit for the wisdom He gives us? Perhaps some of our burdens and struggles in life are God lovingly disciplining us for our prideful, self-congratulating foolishness. Do we make daily choices according to what we have daily read in the Bible? Do we pray daily prayers for God to guide us in our daily sayings and doings? Do we seek out Godly brothers and sisters to help each other live in a way that pleases God?
Our answers to these questions will reveal the source of whatever wisdom we are truly living by.
May we be fully honest with ourselves and quick to repent and rejoice as God washes our feet and leads us into the rich, restful pastures of His wisdom.
Comments