God, the Source of Wisdom!

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” – James 1:5-8 NIV

All of us make mistakes throughout our lives. It is normal because we do not have infinite wisdom that are able to see future visions, whether we are Christian or not. I made a several mistakes in the past, such as not studying when I was teenager. Nevertheless, my biggest mistake, in a view point of now, would probably be not reading story books and novels at all when I was teenager. I did not know that reading them was so important in education, and I thought they were completely useless. Now I can see why my parents urged me to read. The main reason for this is that I need to develop my reading skills—skimming and scanning. I recently found out this through free online theology course because theology courses have so much reading to do. In addition to this, when I was in New York, I asked how much difficulty reading is in theology classes to one of my friends who has been at a Bible College. He said, “some of it is pretty heavy but if God's leading you to do it, don't let workload stop you.” Secondly, my biggest spiritual mistakes would be repenting before God but not putting it into practice. I did this several times. I hate the way I repent and not putting it into practice because I am one of God’s children (1 John 3:1-3) and nothing is hidden from God (Hebrews 4:13).

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

To get right wisdom, we should come to Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28-30), the perfect image of God (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3), and ask God by praying to Him intimately. This does not mean that all of us should come to God, just to get wisdom. We should first believe in Jesus Christ intimately, then we are able to ask Him for the wisdom. In fact, He is the source of wisdom (Psalm 111:10) because He is omniscient God, which means He knows everything, even the future (Romans 11:33-36). Because of this, He is the beginning and the end as Revelation 1:8 tells us in New Living Translation. In addition, He is willing to give His Spirit when we only just ask Him (Luke 11:13). To tell the truth, the Spirit of God is basically the wisdom of God, who is able to guide us in walking with God until the end of the age (John 14:15-27). This is because the Spirit of God is the Spirit of the truth (John 16:7-15) and the Spirit of the righteousness (Romans 8:1-17). Not only the Spirit is the truth and the righteousness, He is the Spirit of the life (John 6:63-65), the holiness (John 14:26-27), and the freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:6-10)

Our only effort is to live our lives according to the gospel of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:27-28) and the word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17) This is because the wisdom of God only comes to us if we are mature enough in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 2:6-10), and the Spirit is going to give the wisdom in His own timing (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  This is the part of the reason why we should believe in Jesus Christ intimately.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8)