The Ocean of Truth
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
Eternity-Inspiration for Tuesday 2nd December 1997
The Ocean of Truth
(Ecclesiastes 7:19-24 NIV) Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful
than ten rulers in a city. {20} There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins. {21} Do not pay attention to
every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-- {22}
for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed
others. {23} All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined
to be wise"-- but this was beyond me. {24} Whatever wisdom may be, it
is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?
Sir Isaac Newton said of himself "I do not know what I may appear to
the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing
on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a
smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great
ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me". Solomon, whose wisdom
was legendary said "All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am
determined to be wise"-- but this was beyond me. {24} Whatever wisdom
may be, it is far off and most profound-- who can discover it?"
Great minds are humble minds that know that they have only been
dabbling. Dabbling productively and well perhaps but only dabbling -
full wisdom is beyond us all. If I may digress I think this is an
admirable attitude for theologians to adopt with respect to their
knowledge of God. Some systems claim a comprehensiveness that is
little short of arrogance and which approaches idolatry of the mind.
Paul, who surely knew more of God than you or I said that he "saw
through a glass darkly". He confessed to knowing incompletely.
There is power in wisdom - "Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful
than ten rulers in a city." Wars are now fought as much by physicists
as soldiers. There is a fascinating TV series that shows the
scientists that helped win WW2. In that series it seems that "one
wise man" can be a powerful force indeed! It also takes us to the
root of the biblical meaning of wisdom. Wisdom in Scripture is that
which helps you achieve your ends. It isn't at all abstract or
terribly philosophical. It is pragmatic and useful much more like the
business books in your local bookstore than the philosophy books in
the library. We don't find elaborate definitions or discussions of
semantics and epistemology. There is little syllogistic logic or
categorisation. Bible wisdom is knowledge that works in real life.
Its more about avoiding an adulteress than the formulation of the
concept of inter-subjective testability. And frankly that's more
useful! Many people wise in philosophy have ruined lives that a little
bible wisdom would have saved.
Ultimately God's most practical wisdom is found in Christ Jesus our
Saviour for He is the solution - the pragmatic Answer to all the
problems of life. (1 Corinthians 1:30-31 NIV) It is because of him
that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from
God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. {31}
Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
"There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and
never sins. {21} Do not pay attention to every word people say, or
you may hear your servant cursing you-- {22} for you know in your
heart that many times you yourself have cursed others" This is one
of the clearest statements in the OT about the Fall. The reality is
that we all sin. Handling this fact is not easy. Wisdom allows us
to see that the world -including ourselves is fallen and that
therefore we should not take every small thing too seriously. We
will be in misery if we expect to be perpetually respected and to
live in a totally just and fair world. We can see that we have often
been disrespectful of others and so we should give them the same
latitude also. Wisdom takes a "live and let live" attitude to life
in a fallen world.
Prayer:
Lord wisdom is beyond us for it belongs to You. Please open our minds
and hearts to Your wisdom that is in Christ Jesus and make us humble
to receive it and rejoice in it. Amen.
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
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