Read James 1:5
I love to read. In fact, I usually have about three different books going at one time. I also love cross-word puzzles because it helps me exercise my brain. I love obtaining knowledge. Games like Scrabble, Trivia Pursuit and other games that have to do with facts and knowledge are my forte. My uncle used to be amazed because I could rattle off all of the statistics of any Minnesota sports team. I could do that because I spent time absorbing knowledge about those statistics. One of my favorite pages in the paper is the sports statistics page.
I read this account of someone that walks the same road for knowledge as I do. Brewster Kahle has a vision for the Internet. He dreams of universal access to all human knowledge. As Digital Librarian and Director and co-founder of Internet Archive, Kahle believes we have only begun to tap the vast potential of the Internet to change and improve our world. “My interest,” he says, “is to build the great library. . . . It is now technically possible to live up to the dream of the Library of Alexandria.” He’s referring to a huge vault of writings in ancient Egypt that was said to house all of the world’s knowledge.
But knowledge is not the same as wisdom. I have known people that were brilliant in a classroom setting, but they couldn’t find their way out of a parking lot if their life depended on it. There was a guy in college that would literally sleep through almost all of his classes and still get straight A’s because he had no problem with absorbing and reciting knowledge. However, he did not have the common sense to throw the previous week’s pizza away, but rather, let it fester in his dorm room. There are many a times we went looking for that dead animal stench.
King Solomon was a man of vast knowledge. In his better moments, he used his God-given capacity to collect information and insight from every corner of life. In unguarded moments, however, he showed that all the knowledge in the world does not keep a person from missing the purpose of life. In spite of his knowledge, Solomon married many women, and when he was old he built altars to their gods. His foolishness eventually led to his downfall.
Wisdom is the application of knowledge. Don’t get caught in a web of knowledge without true wisdom that comes from the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). I would rather have the fear of the Lord that begins my road to wisdom than all the data that knowledge can carry. Yes, we need knowledge, but more than ever, we need wisdom to handle that knowledge properly. Remember James told us to ask God for wisdom, not knowledge, and when asked, the Lord will give liberally.
“In seeking wisdom thou art wise; in imagining that thou hast attained it - thou art a fool.”
- Lord Chesterfield
No comments:
Post a Comment