God’s Wisdom

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Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:18-23 (ESV)

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Devotion:

            Here, in this scripture passage we find Paul urging the Corinthian church to seek wisdom from God. The church has fallen to the temptation to believe that they are wise because they follow the teaching of one of the Lord’s servants instead of Christ himself. It is easy to fall victim to this failure of understanding. In the church today there are those who become so attached to human teachers that they ignore what the Bible says. Paul declares this foolishness. He urges loyalty to Christ and Him alone.

            There is no mere human teacher that can demand our loyalty to them rather than Christ. All human wisdom and knowledge is foolishness with God. People are not saved by relationship to anyone but Jesus only. There is no religious, political, or other figure that is worthy of our loyalty and love. The Lord knows all people and He knows the ways of the human mind. There is nothing that any human has thought of that God is not already aware of. As the cliché goes “man proposes but God disposes.”

            Those of us in leadership must acknowledge God’s superiority in all things. We lead, but we also must follow Christ’s leadership. We should seek to follow our Savior wherever He leads us. We must let go of our priorities and humbly submit to Christ’s leading for us and for those we lead. We must trust the wisdom that comes from Jesus Christ and not lean on our own understanding as the proverb says. All believers belong to Christ not to any teacher. Let us prepare our hearts to receive God’s wisdom and follow it without hesitation.

Prayer:

            Lord, help us to humble ourselves before you. Let us accept your leadership in our lives. May we reject the counsel of this world in favor of the counsel that comes from you. Let us trust the word of God that has been given to us as a guide into all truth. Help us never to think we know better than you. Lord, teach us to be patient with your people gently leading them to put their trust in you. Amen.

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