Do you want to know about something?
No problem! Knowledge is at your fingertips. Do you want to know something deeper than what you already knew? No problem! Just give it your time and attention and you will have an ample of knowledge. That means, we can safely say, “This world has no lack of knowledge.”
But knowledge won’t do us a thing unless we know how and when to use the knowledge we have. What is that called? Wisdom.
One said, “Knowledge tells you what is going on; wisdom tells you what to do about it. Knowledge is the diagnosis; wisdom is directed to the cure.”
Hmm! Made you wonder, didn’t it?
Let’s see one simple example to understand the relationship between knowledge and wisdom.
A young Christian girl found out that she was pregnant after she had an unprotected sex, properly termed as “a sinful sex,” with her boyfriend.
Uh-oh!
What is going on? The girl is pregnant! What is the diagnosis? Pregnancy!
What now? What does the girl need to do? What is “the cure?”
She is 26 years old, just finished her master’s degree in business this past May. She is the first child of three kids for her parents and her parents have lots of expectations from her. She always hears them say, “She is a genuine and strong Christian. She is an excellent example to her two younger sisters and all the young girls in our church.”
Hmm! Tough!
Now what does this young girl need to do?
She needs “a cure to the diagnosis.”
What she knows about her situation won’t do her anything at this point. What she needs now is a way out of her situation, if possible, without endangering her status quo.
She is a Christian, remember? That means other than the law of sin, the law of spirit governs her life (Romans 7). So, she cannot afford to worry only about her status quo before man but God.
Now, wisdom is at the call!
What does the Bible say about wisdom?
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10
And, “The fear of the LORD is the fountain of life.” Proverbs 14:27
How can this young girl apply this wisdom into her situation?
Well, she only has two options: To kill her baby or to let her baby live!
Simply put, life and death are the two options sitting in front of her. No middle option!
The word of God says,
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,” Deuteronomy 30:19 NASB
Wow! “you and your descendants!” What she does today affects the rest of her life and the lives of her descendants! The stakes are too high!
But if she lets her child live, her parents who are well known in their church will be put to shame. And how can she see her parents’ eyes after she did this? Her parents, especially her mom, were certain that their daughter would never be sexual with any man before marriage. She leads a youth ministry in her church. Who would expect her to do such a thing? How is she going to face all these????
If she quietly goes to the nearest abortion clinic and kills her baby, nobody would know.
Which one looks easy?
No brainer! The second one is TOO EASY!
Hmm! Tough!
The Bible says,
“Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” 1 Corinthians 1:30 NASB
Wow! Christ Himself is this young Christian girl’s wisdom. All she needs to do is to follow Christ’s footsteps.
Peter puts it this way:
“For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;” 1 Peter 2:20-23 NASB
Wow!
This young girl is called in Christ to “do what is right” and suffer the consequences.
But, what about her messy life? What is she going to do with her parents, neighbors, church members and all her friends who always looked up to her as a role model?
When it comes to her fate, her tomorrows, she keeps entrusting herself “to Him who judges righteously” –She entrusts all the unknowns to the Father for she has “been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for [her] you, leaving [her]you an example for [her]you to follow in His steps,”.
This is called wisdom!
No wonder, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.
What do you say if I tell you this?
That girl chose life and let her child live! Her boyfriend left her and her parents pushed her away. She quietly left the church knowing that no one was willing to be on her side. Now 10 years have passed. She is married and has two more kids. She forgave her parents and she now has a good relationship with them. She and her husband, with their three kids, go to a church where they both serve. She has a youth ministry in her home church now, having nothing to hide from God and man, leading, not a perfect life but, a happy and abundant life.
The options are still the same for all of us, aren’t they? To choose life and suffer the consequences for a short period of time and be happy with our choice for the rest of our lives; or to choose death and be happy for few hours or days but suffer lots of shame, aches, fears, regrets for the rest of our lives.
May the LORD help us all to choose life at every step of our way! ///