Our study in James this morning brings us to the subject of wisdom. The Scriptures, however, clearly reveal to us that not all wisdom is godly wisdom. There is a wisdom of this world that is devastating in its effect upon others. In contrast, there is wisdom from above that gives glory to God and is a blessing to all who walk in it (James 3:13-18).
Our heavenly Father is the source of all godly wisdom (James 1:5), and His will is that we walk in it (Proverbs 8:1-5). Unfortunately, we have this tendency to think that we are wiser than God (Romans 1:22), and so we plunge into things with our human, earthly wisdom, and in doing so we cause great problems and pain, not only to ourselves, but to others as well.
We know that if we ask God for wisdom, He will give it to us, provided that we ask in faith and purpose to apply it to our lives (James 1:6-8). A wise person builds his house upon the rock of obedience to the words of Christ. A foolish person is the person who hears the word but refuses to do what God says he ought to do (Luke 6:47-49).
Only application of godly wisdom will get godly results. We know that whatever we sow, we reap. If we are prone to sow human, earthly wisdom, than we can expect to reap a harvest of chaos and confusion. If on the other hand we sow to the Spirit, we can be sure that there will be a harvest of fruit and life (Galatians 6:7,8).
May we listen to God’s Word today with open hearts; and may we hear what the Spirit of God says about these two kinds of wisdom and the consequences attached to following them.
