Yesterday, our Sunday school lesson was on wisdom, what it is and how to attain it. We all agreed that acquiring knowledge is not a problem. If we want to know the answer to almost any question, we can find it on the internet. But wisdom? I don’t think you can get that from the internet. We can, however, obtain wisdom by asking for it from God. Question is, do we really want to be wise or is it easier to trust somebody else’s idea of wisdom?
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God'” (Psalm 14:1). That pretty much sums up the Lord’s opinion of Atheists. But, here’s a question: if we ignore God’s laws and what He says is right or wrong, preferring to take some other person’s or group’s beliefs, aren’t we pretty much agreeing with those who flagrantly abuse God’s Word?
In the Book of Acts is the story of Stephen. The Bible says Stephen was full of faith and power, and performed many wonders. I would think that those who heard him and saw his deeds would have known he was a man of God and spoke the truth. However, although many believed, many others did not. The upshot was, they stopped their ears against hearing Stephen’s words of truth, and stoned him to death. You know who was a witness to this murder? Saul! In fact, those who killed Stephen took off their coats, I guess the better to cast those rocks, and laid their coats down at the feet of Saul.
Now, I wonder if there were in the crowd, some who believed Stephen, who did not take up stones to kill him. I don’t know. I just wondered if there were some who stood silently by, afraid of the crowd, afraid of being branded a heretic, and, although they may not have wanted Stephen to die, they did nothing to rescue him. Were these people wise? Were they as much to blame as those who cast stones?
Whatever affliction assailed those who consented to Stephen’s death, it might be (I shudder to think) at work in the world today. Many times, we know something is wrong, but we are too timid to speak out and act on our convictions. Or else, we say, “Well, I don’t really believe that.” But, we might as well. If we trust the wisdom of another person or a group of persons without first putting those beliefs through the litmus test of God’s Word, aren’t we as guilty as they?
The Bible tells us not to count on our own understanding but to trust in the Lord. “Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7). How presumptuous and vain to follow any individual or group’s teaching and ignore the Lord. There’s lots of knowledge in today’s technological world but now, as in the days of old, wisdom comes only from God.
Mary Edna Latty’s New Testament
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