TWO LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING
"A man of understanding walks straight." Proverbs 15:21
It's one thing to read something and say, "Yea, I see the reasoning here. This makes sense to me." It's quite another to act on the premise and experience the truth firsthand. The first produces a casual nod of the head. The second, a fluency born of experience.
I am struck by Solomon's choice of words. He didn't say that a man of understanding thinks straight. He walks straight. To be a woman of understanding, I take the Word to heart enough to go out and live it. I try it on when it's convenient and when it's costly. I obey it when I feel like it and when I don’t. I get to see God’s precepts spring to life as they are proven true in my experience. I develop the credentials to become a teacher because I know how God's truth fits into the scenarios of life. I have the ability to, not only comment on them, but discuss each one at length. The many nuances of truth are golden to me because I have mined them through a discipleship that has transcended the classroom. People who know me will always be able to tell when I'm blowing smoke and when I am intimate with my own sermons.
Those who are self-impressed with their own knowledge fill a good many pulpits. Ah, but how desperate are the saints to be shepherded by one who has humbly walked out the Gospel and faced his need for it. I consider the times I have said about a speaker, or a writer, "He truly understands!" Such a raving review is usually given because I sense the person has earned the credibility to teach. That has less to do with education than a biblically structured life. No wonder Jesus said, "To the man who knows what is right and fails to do it, to him it is sin." Knowing and doing are clearly delineated.
Spare me from mere sparring with educated saints. Let me walk beside the One who listens, obeys, and has Your light in their eyes. In Jesus name, Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Friday, 20 October 2023.
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