Morning Thoughts - by Elder Philip Conley

Morning Thoughts

James 3:15, "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish."

Psalm 111:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."

This morning, there are many that are looking for errors in the Word of God. They strain at a gnat and swallow a camel to try to accomplish their evil deeds. Some have even pointed to these two verses to show
that there is some kind of error in the Holy Scriptures. Brethren, these things ought not so to be (as James says earlier in the chapter). Ever since the word of the Lord started to be questioned (the serpent in Genesis 3), sinful things started happening. Whenever we today question what God has told us, then sinful things are lying at our door waiting to come into the house and bind our godly behavior.

So, since there are NO errors in the Bible, then how would one reconcile these two verses in their mind? If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then how can there be wisdom not from Him? Notice that Psalm 111:10 does NOT say the beginning of "all" wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord does not begin certain types of wisdom. The wisdom of the world is being crafty, and there are many that are very endued with this ability.

The unjust steward was one that was very wise in the ways of the world, and he knew how to save his hide in the day of his judgment. There are many today that are able to con people away from large sums of money and get away unscathed. This is a type of "wisdom" that James says the Lord is not a part of. This wisdom is not from above, and the Lord has no action in this devilish behavior. However, this wisdom is something that will make us take notice. Notice that the master of the unjust steward even gave him credit with being able to save himself. However, this credit is not praise and blessing, and our Lord will not bless us if we engage in this type of behavior.

So, the wisdom from above that the Lord will give to us liberally if we but ask in faith is wisdom that the world knows nothing of. They consider true wisdom from heaven to be foolish. There is no way to get ahead in this world by helping your fellow man. There is no way to get ahead in this world by spending time with your family (natural and spiritual). There is no way to get ahead in this world by visiting the widows and orphans. However, these are things that the child of God engages in when they fear the Lord. It is the beginning of the wisdom that they begin to see that they are less important than they once thought.

The Apostle Paul thought very highly of himself before his meeting with the Lord. After that day, he thought very little of his natural status. It was nothing to him, so that he might win the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Likewise, our wisdom begins when we see ourselves as poor, undone sinners in need of a Saviour Who gave His all for us. Then, we take that new-found knowledge and wisdom and apply it to making better servants of ourselves in regards to our service to the Lord and neighbor. May we ever fear Him, use the wisdom that He gives us and not engage in that natural wisdom that feeds our flesh.

In Hope,

Bro Philip