DECEMBER 13, 2012
The
Circle Of The Wise
Read: 1 John 2:12–17
I write to you,
fathers, because you have known Him who is from the
beginning. —1 John 2:13
I
used to serve on the elder board of a church in California. One elder,
Bob
Smith, who was older than most of us, frequently called us back
to the Word of
God for guidance.
On
one occasion we were discussing a leadership shortage in the church
and had
spent an hour or more working through various solutions. Bob
was silent
throughout the discussion. Finally, he said quietly, “Gentlemen,
we’ve
forgotten Jesus’ solution to our leadership issue. Before we do
anything, we
must first ‘ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out
workers’” (Luke
10:2 niv). We were humbled,
and spent the rest of our
time praying that God would raise up workers and send
them into the field.
C.
S. Lewis said, “The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in
a
circle of those who are.” Proverbs 1:5 says, “A man of understanding
will
attain wise counsel.” Bob’s comment is just one example of the value
of wise
men and women who “have known Him who is from the beginning”
(1 John
2:13-14) and whose minds are saturated with the Word of God.
Let’s
take to heart the counsel of those who have lived in the Lord’s
presence and
are mature in His wisdom. They are God’s gift to us and
our churches.
The older saints who trust God’s Word
Have trod the paths that we now walk;
They’ve fought the battles we now fight—
Their wisdom teaches truth and right. —Branon
That one is truly wise who gains his wisdom from the experience
of others.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
