Reading for Today:
Proverb Chapter 26
Gold Nugget
Verse 12: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Commentary
Once a wise elder was asked, “Sir, do you know
everything?” He replied, “No, lad. I’m much too old to know everything.” The
truth could not have been better said… well, outside of scripture anyway. The Scriptures
actually deal with this subject at length. Those of us that have lived long
enough will attest to the fact that the longer we live and the more we know,
the more we realize how much we don’t know. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t
realize how little we actually knew while we thought we knew everything. It
could have saved us a lot of heartache. The most dangerous element of knowledge
is the fact that it comes before wisdom and not after. That being said, you can
have knowledge and not yet possess the wisdom to know how to administer it.
Most of us act on our attainment of knowledge as it arrives. The appropriate
order is to attain knowledge, then understanding, followed by wisdom (how to
properly apply what you know and understand). The sum of all this can be
reached through one of the most basic Christian principles –humility. Humility
is a required element of every Christian. You will either be humble or be
humbled. I have prayed on several occasions that the Lord teach me humility
without me having to be humiliated. I’ve had it both ways, and He will oblige
me either. In the end, I will be humble. Part of being humble is to know what
you don’t know. Some of the wisest people I know aren’t necessarily overflowing
with knowledge as much as humility. The people that have a clear understanding
of what they know and what they don’t are some of the most valuable people to
gain counsel from. Pride will not interfere with their position. They are not
wise in their own eyes. As today’s “gold nugget” says, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool
than for him.” Many of us have too much pride to be able to even see the
application in this passage for us today. We are more likely to see this
illustration and picture in our minds the unfortunate fool that we know who fits
this description. In that, we miss an opportunity to see room for our personal
growth. Let us be humble today or be humiliated tomorrow.
Prayer
Lord, I have been
around long enough to be able to look back and realize how wrong I was when I
thought I was most right. Help me to be slower to assume I am right and give
space for you to show me what the truth is. In this, I will be able to walk in
wisdom and humility. Amen
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