The writer begins, "The wisdom of the scribe depends on
the opportunity of leisure; only the one who has little business can become
wise." Wisdom consists in the study
of the Word only for the writer as all else is business or busy-ness. Brother Laurence would disagree with this
attitude and so should we. Brother
Laurence wrote the letters of wisdom that make up The Practice of the Presence
of God and in it he speaks of that continuous communion with the Almighty that
was uninterrupted by his duties in the monastery. We should reject the idea that our work
interrupts real things like getting wisdom because we can cultivate that
attitude of a constant state of prayer that allows us to continue in His
presence. So long as we separate our
lives into compartments like mental, physical and spiritual we will continue to
miss out on much wisdom available to us via the Spirit. That is not to say that we should leave off
the study of the Word in favor of prayer, the two go hand in hand and, in fact,
we should be equally prayerful in study.
All of life is an opportunity for God to speak and teach. Much is learned from everyday affairs if we
determine to learn in all things.
Jesus speaks of wisdom in His own way concerning things in
this world. First, He says that He will
bring division to every relationship in life, even in the immediate
family. This was certainly true in the
first century early church where families would have experienced this division
over what to make of Jesus. Was He the
Messiah they were looking for or not?
The decision to believe in Him would have separated families and today
we see it less commonly but when one member of the family is more serious about
the consequences of belief it can be very divisive. People get concerned about you when you begin
to direct your life by your faith rather than have it be a nice little addition
to life. Interpreting the times requires
a wisdom from above, we need to see beyond the immediate to the ultimate in
order to truly interpret the times. We
need to allow ourselves God's perspective on things in order to see what He is
doing and how we can tell the culture the truth about Him and the culture. Finally, settling with our accuser is a way
of keeping primary things primary, not allowing ourselves to be caught up in
such things.
“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his
judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the
springs of water.” This is described as
an eternal Gospel. It is eternal because
it posits a truth that is available to all, at all times and in all places, every
nation and tribe and language and people.
In our day that part of the Gospel is under attack by western scientists
but John says it is Good News, the evangel. Even if you haven't heard the Good News of
Jesus you can fear and give glory to the one who created all things and seek to
know Him. As we are told over and again
in Scripture, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Does the created order tell its own
story? Is it a tale of a loving,
gracious, Creator who is orderly and interested in life? If so, then the creator Himself must be good,
we can learn of Him in His creation.
Whatever else we might worship is unworthy.
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