Wisdom’s Opportunity
How many teachers have you heard say, “There is no dumb question”? Or they say, “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Someone else in class may be wondering the same thing.” It is true that you cannot learn unless you start listening to what you are being taught and then asking questions in the spots you don’t understand. Yet so many will still sit back in class and be afraid to ask because they don’t want to appear dumb. It’s not that you are dumb; it is just that you haven’t learned that subject yet. No human being born as a baby comes out knowing everything. It is a process. We miss opportunities to learn by being embarrassed, scared or stubborn. Without learning certain things we are probably missing further opportunities that would come because of our knowledge. The next step to learning is the stage of wisdom. Wisdom comes when we gain knowledge and then apply it and learn further through the experience. There is nothing sadder than to first not seek knowledge or worse yet not to use that knowledge once it is learned. We gain no wisdom and use no wisdom in our lives when we do that. Once such example is found in Luke 10: 25 – 29.
25 Just then an expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. 28 “You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
This gentleman was expert in the law of the Lord and he saw Jesus as a teacher. He saw the opportunity to confirm that he was going to have eternal life. Jesus tested his knowledge with a question. The gentleman correctly answered. He had learned well. Jesus, however, saw down in to his heart. He knew that knowledge was not being applied. The man then wanted to try to prove he was good to go by asking Jesus a question. Jesus told him the parable of the good Samaritan. At the end Jesus shared some wisdom with him. He told him to do the same as the good Samaritan. In other words, Jesus knew that the man was not applying his knowledge and that he lacked wisdom. With Jesus’ command the man was given the opportunity to gain wisdom.
It was good the man appeared to be seeking Jesus’ wisdom with his question, but more important would be that he did not pass up the opportunity to apply the wisdom. We need to do the same. We need to spend time with Jesus in the Word and prayer and then actually apply what we learn. Too many times we go to church and hear a message and return home to re-enter our same routines and never applying what we learn. Remember to take the opportunity to seek wisdom and to apply it.
