Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
— Proverbs 3: 7
What does it mean to be wise in your own eyes? I’ve heard of “wise guys” but I don’t remember hearing “wise eyes” before.
When we look at ourselves “in our own eyes” there is always a tendency to see what we want to see. When we look at someone else we have the advantage of seeing them from outside their head. Inside our head, our vision is cluttered by all the wants, needs and hopes we have collected all our life.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
— Colossians 3:1
What do we do when our heart is breaking? Is there any pain as great?
We live in bodies that are obsessed with our own needs and wants. Our emotional vision is short-sighted. We see what we think is right, what we need, what we want. But our vision is earthbound. Only God knows what is best.
Because of this myopic condition we sometimes take great risks. In our need for an emotional connection we tend to entrust our hearts to people instead of God.
For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse…
— Proverbs 2: 10-12
Are there practical benefits to having wisdom? It depends on who you are and what you are looking for in life.
I do not like pain. I avoid it as much as possible. For this reason, I avoid taking unnecessary risks. I think everyone else should think the same way. I cannot fathom a point of view that embraces pain.
Some years ago in the course of my job, I met a young man who seemed impervious to pain. During the few weeks, I knew him I learned that he had an affection for high-risk sports. He would regale me with stories of the adventures he’d had and then tell me what it had cost him in broken bones. I am pretty sure he had broken almost every bone in his body at least once.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
— Romans 15:13
If you look at any United States coin, written on the front are the words, “In God We Trust.” Over the years I have come to marvel at the implications of what it means to trust in God.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he ties together trust, hope, joy, and peace. All this is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Without God, we do not have access to that power.
Hear my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.
— Psalm 5: 2-3
David, the psalm writer, knows about needing help. Invited into King Saul’s service as a boy, it isn’t long before the king becomes jealous of David. God and David already have a close relationship. David has a simple, child-like faith. God looks on that faith and honors it by blessing what David does. David the child defending the army of Israel with a sling was an example of that relationship.
Because David relies on God, God blesses David. Because God blesses David, the people of Israel honor David. Because Saul has lost God’s blessing (see 1 Samuel 13) Saul is jealous of David. Jealously leads to strife and strife leads to Saul trying repeatedly to kill David. During all this time David remains faithful to Saul and respects God’s anointing.
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.
— Proverbs 2: 6, 9
The problem with being human – that is, being human without knowing God – is that we don’t understand the difference between right and wrong. That is not to say we do not ever do what is right. It just means that we do not know what is right.
As a human, we can say this is good and that is bad, but our knowledge is imperfect. (Ecclesiastes 11: 5) We do not know what lies beyond our vision. We cannot know how all things turn out. Because we cannot know the ending, we cannot know for certain if something is good or bad. Everything depends on how it turns out at the end.
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.
Proverbs 2: 6-8
Does anybody want wisdom anymore? Is that even a “thing” these days? How about knowledge? What is that, anyway? People seem to claim different things as being true. They want me and you to accept what they claim is knowledge regardless of whether it makes any sense or not. Which brings us to “understanding.” Whose do we use, anyway?
The problem in a society where everyone wins and no one loses is expectations. When people who never lose grow up they continue to expect to be treated as a winner, even if their ideas are losers.
For example, let’s take two neighbors; Harry and Larry. Harry is a humble man, attentive to the Lord, and always looking for the “right” thing to do. Larry, who lives next door, is generally full of himself. As far as he is concerned, he is always “right” and doesn’t need to bother with learning from anyone else.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Did I mention that James is … er… somewhat blunt? I did? Good. ‘Cause he is.
James packs a lot of truth into his brief staccato sentences so we might need to unpack some of this. Not that it is complicated or anything. It is just that what he is talking about is something we might be doing at this very moment.
Are you being “quick to listen” or are you “merely listen[ing]?”
Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Picture Perfect
Imagine if you will a placid beautiful lake. The lake is surrounded by rolling hills, fruit orchards, and lush fields. Animals play in the fields and birds fill the air. You and others are in boats of some kind; canoes, sailboats, paddle-boards, all enjoying the water and the sunshine.
At the far end of the lake stands a large figure. In our imaginary world, this is God, the Lord. He rules the land and the people on the lake. At his feet there is a cleft in the rock and the lake flows into a narrow ravine. The Lord guards the way and has commanded all the people to stay away from this place, to enjoy the lake and the surrounding hills, but to avoid the river.
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…
Once more we return to this amazing passage of scripture. It looks like a simple sentence on the surface, but as we dive into the text we find that every word is a gemstone in its own right. The value of these gems is magnified by the fact that they were written by the half brother of Jesus. A man who grew up knowing Jesus as his older brother and who did not believe in him or appreciate him until after Jesus rose from the dead and spoke with him.
Because of this life experience, James has special insight. He spent all his time living with the Son of God being slow to listen and quick to speak. Now he knows better. Besides, he knows one more thing: Be slow to become angry…
