If a man does not argue with the thoughts that the enemy secretly sows in us, but by prayer to God uproots conversation with them, this is a sign that his mind has attained wisdom, and that he has found a short path.
~St. Isaac the Syrian
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Ephesians 1
Oh beloved, it is true.
Many of us have sought after knowledge for a lifetime. We have sat under gurus and professors that moved us to an even deeper hunger to simply know what is true. We have read the books. We have been to the museums, and we have learned.
This fool of a writer had a top-ten moment in his life about twenty years ago. I had the privilege of visiting Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. And in that sanctuary of learning; a place that very well have saved the world as we know it, there is the Book of Kells. This is a mildly ancient codex of the four Gospels. It is a volume that is truly priceless. Wars have been fought over this book.
But this was only the beginning of the sights that day.
When one is finished with the beauty of the display of the Book of Kells, one exits out of the exhibit and into a room, that if one understands, will take your breath away. The place is exquisite, and valuable beyond measure. It is called The Long Room. And in the Long Room, sits the seeds of the West. It is the place where the original manuscripts of the architects of Western civilization have been stored, and most books published in the UK are also in that place.
I began to see it. This really was just a view into something else.
SomeOne else.
Paul tries to get us there, but even Ephesians – a crown jewel of his writings – can’t quite get us there. If we read the passage, we see Paul using extravagant language to try and get us to see it.
Can we see it?
G_d is making something known to us. But, the knowledge is only a conduit to a higher understanding. G_d is showing us that knowledge rightly applied is something incredibly more precious than simply knowing. This is wisdom.
And this is why a place like the Long Room is more than just a giant, ancient hard drive of data. No, the knowledge in that place was put to work. Now, from those seminal events, come the technologies that even allow you, beloved reader, to access what i am writing from China.
What G_d did is like this… Except infinitely more beautiful than cool technology. No, what G_d did was to take His knowledge and apply it in such a way that He Himself broke through time, and into our tiny little world, that we might actually receive ALL of Who He Is into us. And then, that we might actually be drawn into sonship with Him.
Beloved, if the prior paragraph does not move you, you may not be catching this. Just as a child might go skipping through the Long Room unaware, we might miss the whole point of our Christianity. There is a mighty large “WHY?” question to discover the answer to.
Why did G_d make us and then pour out so much Love on us? Why is it that He is even mindful of us? Wisdom. Simple. Rock-Solid. Wisdom. Friends, G_d did all of this simply because it was the right thing to do.
Love begets. Love gives. Love grows. And nothing can stop it.
So yes, trips through places like the Long Room, and volumes like the Book of Kells should rightly take our breath away. But then, to understand that the Higher Wisdom of G_d is at work in our very lives should drive us to our knees and set our souls ablaze!
Tonight is your night. Time to see what the Wisdom of G_d has done for you, in the Person of Jesus Christ!
There is more wisdom in a quarter of an hour’s prayer than there is in a quarter of a year’s consultation with friends. Oftentimes when we have sought counsel of the living God he has befriended us. When we have left things with him, we have always gone wisely. Oh, how he can make the most crooked thing that ever did happen suddenly turn out to be the very straightest thing that ever occurred for our welfare. I know that sometimes I have puzzled my head about some difficulty in my Master’s service — asked opinions of lots of people, like a stupid, and I have gone home with any head aching in deeper uncertainty than ever what to do. And I have never discovered how to unravel a knotty point by my own ingenuity, but I have always found that when I at last bowed the knee, and said, “Heavenly Father, it is rather thy business than mine; it is quite beyond me, and I now leave it in thy hands to guide me,” … it has gone all right. If I had maneuvered to manage it for myself it would have gone wrong enough.
~Charles Spurgeon
