SCRIPTURE
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Co. 1:18)
OBSERVATION
God's wisdom and the world's wisdom are vastly different. We can be too smart for our own spiritual good. But God has turned the world's wisdom on its head by making it foolish. Dying on a cross initially looked like failure, but when we recognize the full impact of what God did, it suddenly becomes the most intelligent plan ever initiated. The world's wisdom is merely words taught by humans, but God's wisdom comes from words taught by the Spirit.
Our celebrity culture has conditioned us to prefer performance over substance...not what is said, but how it is said. This would make the cross a show stopper. A dying Messiah, how ridiculous. On the other hand, God's wisdom is about substance, a demonstration of the Spirit's power. This makes the cross the most powerful event of God who was reconciling the world to himself.
God is looking for people who are wise according to his standards. Ultimately, that wisdom is found in the person of Jesus, who Paul writes "has become for us the wisdom of God" (1:30).
APPLICATION
It's a mistake to think wisdom is all about what I know. More importantly, it is who I know. My wisdom needs to be found in Christ. To truly be wise means to be more like Jesus. Someone once said wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge to life. Wisdom comes as I follow Jesus and allow him to work through me, shaping my worldview and my life. That means I still have a lot of learning to do and I am probably not even as smart as a fifth grader.
PRAYER
God, help me to grow in the wisdom that is Jesus.
