Proverbs 26:12 (NIV)
Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for them.
One of the marks of wisdom is the way its possession is hidden from its bearer. To say it another way:
You don't know it when you have it.
If you think you are a wise person, the chances are you aren't.
It takes us back to one of the earlier proverbs about humility being the beginning of wisdom and pride being its antithesis.
So does this mean that one of the marks of a wise person is that they think they aren't wise? No. Humility is not thinking less of yourself.
Humility is thinking less about yourself.
A person convinced of their own wisdom is not only not wise, but worse off than a fool.
So, on the one hand, we are exhorted to seek after wisdom with all we've got, yet, on the other, we are never to consider that we have attained it. That's an interesting way to live.
One of the properties of true wisdom is that it is not conscious of itself. It makes sense, then, that the one who possesses it is not conscious of possessing it.
- What if, in fact, we don't possess wisdom?
- What if wisdom possesses us?
Maybe that's the big deception—that we can somehow possess wisdom.
All of this would seem to suggest the quest is not to be a wise person, but to belong to the Person of wisdom: Jesus.
Jesus is the wisdom of God. To the extent that I belong to Jesus, I am possessed by wisdom.
PRAYER
Abba Father, thank you for sending and showing us wisdom in the face of a person, your Son, Jesus Christ. Teach us to seek wisdom not that we may possess it, but that we might be possessed by the person of your Spirit. Shape our minds by the mind of Christ. It is in Jesus name we pray, amen.
PROMPTS
- Do you know people who are wise in their own eyes?
What characterizes them?
Why would there be more hope for a fool than for them? - How might I avoid becoming wise in my own eyes?
- How can you seek after wisdom without becoming conscious of receiving it?
What gives?
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