Christian Living

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About two weeks ago I wrote an article about the Christmas tree that represented the tree of life, Jesus Christ and how all the presents under the tree represented all the good things that came with accepting Jesus Christ as the savior of our lives. But God has laid something on my heart to share, something that interestingly enough fits into this Christmas season and my article beforehand. I want to talk about a gift that He freely gives. Its a rather beautiful present sitting under the tree. Nicely wrapped and more favorable than gold or silver or precious gems, this is the gift of wisdom…

I attend an undergraduate school of a Baptist Seminary and boy do we learn a lot about the Bible, doctrines, and history. Plenty of knowledge poor into our heads as we read about doctrine after doctrine systematically and intelligently. I can break down doctrines philosophically and theologically and logically conclude certain beliefs, but despite all my knowledge I still was missing something from my life. Even though I had learned so much about God and the Bible I was lacking something, I was lacking the gift of peace. Now before I continue I want you to realize that my education has been great and quite helpful, but I found myself in a dangerous position after my first semester, a danger similar to the sin in the garden, the first sin.

I stumbled upon the doctrine of predestination and that was when things took a bad turn for me. I couldn’t understand it! I read argument after argument. I logically tried to pin it. I talked with my family, talked with a pastor, and talked with a minister. I read a book about it! I studied it and studied it and thought about it and thought about it, but guess what… I still couldn’t understand it. I wanted to know about it more than I wanted God. I was driving myself mad because I just didn’t understand it. Knowledge was my idol.

It was when I realized that knowledge was my god, that God revealed something massive in my life. In fact something in everyone’s life. People struggle believing in God (Non-Christian) and believing Him (Christian) because they just don’t know why, what, or how things are going on in their life. Why did my loved one pass away? What is happening to my body, I’m sick!? How can I support myself!? Why does this doctrine not make sense!? And then the ultimate question… How come I can’t know what God is doing specifically in my life!? Knowledge is our god.

There were two trees in the Garden of Eden. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sometimes we focus so much on the sin of pride that we forget what exactly prompted that sinful pride. It was knowledge. The serpent said, “For God knows (emphasis) that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5 NIV). The lure…the temptation and curiosity, the pride welling up inside. To think that God knows more than me, to think he is hiding something from me! If only I knew, could I then trust in my self…Notice the tree of life was not a tree of simply knowledge. It was a tree of wisdom and wisdom says to trust God despite our lack of understanding about any aspect of life (Proverbs 3:5 NIV). Wisdom is not knowing everything there is to know. It is using what you have to make the morally right decision in any given circumstances. God offers wisdom, not exhaustive knowledge.

Knowledge is not bad, but when it becomes our god we then believe we can rely on our own understanding and that is a dangerous, terrifying place to be. It brought me to complete despair, hate, and a lack of faith. We can never know everything because we are finite and that is why faith is necessary for us creatures. Faith is the core of our lives. We don’t know everything and never can, thus without faith we would be so fearful to do anything or make any choice. How would we be certain of anything without faith. How would we know that the chairs we sit on can support us? How can we know that we will be alive tomorrow? How can we be sure to make plans for the future? We all put faith in something. Wisdom is placing your faith in God who actually does know….everything. But perhaps he does because it is He who is most and fully and infinitely wise. Because knowledge is a dangerous weapon in the hands of an unwise person. My book knowledge brought me to despair because I did not have the wisdom to simply trust God for that which I did not understand or know.

Perhaps you are a Christian and you think that knowing everything about God brings you closer to Him. It doesn’t, but knowing Him does. Knowing His character and His past works is more than enough to trust Him just as simply glancing at a chair is enough for us to sit in it, assured it will hold us. Before I end this article, I want to ask you this…Do you fear the mysterious? Are you filled with anxiety and grief? Perhaps you have made your life a quest for knowledge and I don’t just mean academic knowledge. I mean you are trying to make sense of life. The mysterious scares you, but if life is a story, an adventure, then there must be mystery. You can’t know the story and still be in it. Plunge into the mystery of every moment and enjoy it. You can enjoy it by trusting in God for He guides the story because it’s His. The fear of mystery is a false lie…Mystery is the stuff of adventures.

Under the Christmas tree, the tree of life, there are many mysteries, many unknown surprises. Some look amazing, others look rather poorly packaged, and many look quite normal, but all are gifts. Wisdom is simply knowing they all are good gifts given by the father of lights from above (James 1:17). Have faith that despite your understanding, all the gifts under the Christmas tree are good gifts for your future (Romans 8:31-32 and Jeremiah 29:11). Merry Christmas and a happy new life.

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