Yours for the Asking...

I remember the day, though I do not remember the date. The preacher quoted a verse from the book of James:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (1:5)

I remember thinking, “Someday I’ll be wise.”

I was only in the sixth grade, and I make no presumptuous evaluation of myself today. But I was not naïve in my thinking. After all, God openly made an offer and He even added that He would give wisdom without reproach, that is, without making fun of you for not having it.

Over the years I’ve heard folks treat this and other passages with the classic, “yeah, but…” logic. It is a lazy man’s way of scoffing at God’s word by explaining why it doesn’t really mean what it says. It is the voice of the doubter.

I really believe that God meant for us to ask for wisdom and I believe that He really meant that He would give it. I also recognize the context in which the statement was written. James was writing about life’s trials.

A trial could be temptation, adversity, or difficulty of any kind. It’s source might be known or unknown. However, God made an offer: ask for wisdom to get through the trial and He will give you wisdom. Just don’t doubt.

Only a fool would not ask God for help.

The psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:99-100.

I have more insight than all my teachers,

For Your testimonies are my meditation.

I understand more than the aged,

Because I have observed Your precepts.

Imagine knowing more than your teachers.

I remember a couple of college professors that seemed out of touch with reality, but I don’t think that is what the psalmist meant. And he was not saying that he knew more math than his math teacher or more economics than his economics teacher. The context is about life and living before God. And yet it was not just a religious/moral/Bible-knowledge statement.

By focusing on God’s word, the psalmist surpassed his teachers in life knowledge. He did so by reading God’s word. But notice that he also meditated on it. That means that he had to stop!

He stopped and thought. He thought about what he had read. He mulled it over in his mind. He reasoned out how to apply God’s word in his life. And that’s not all.

He gained understanding, the ability to discern. Discernment is the application of knowledge when making decisions. It is making evaluations and then choosing one thing over another. It is being able to choose good over bad, better over good, best over better. It is not just the mental capacity to make those choices, it includes the discipline to follow through by observing God’s precepts.

I am completely dumbfounded by my fellow Christians who insist on sifting through pages of human research and opinion to learn about themselves, family (marriage, parenting, extended-family), getting along with others (work, politics, church), how to be pleasing to God, how church growth works, etc. Why do so many trust their thinking to man and his research??

Jesus once said:

“When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

--Luke 18:8

Mark Stinnett

December 31, 2023