I am sitting here drinking a cup of coffee, which is pretty much the same thing I have been doing for the last three or four hours, catching up on the mail and news I have not read in the last 3 or 4 days.

I used to consider myself up to date with what is going on around to world and this country but lately I have had to draw in my viewpoint to what is happening in this city of Jackson and the state of Tennessee. While some things are similar in occurrence , others are vastly different in scope and practice. The result is the same, I am overwhelmed.

Yesterday, I spoke with Ruth Masters, whom I have known all my life. I grew up with her sons and over the last several years she has been a sounding board on occasion. Mrs. Masters is close to ninety years in age with a heart about 20. Standing next to giant of knowledge I felt rather small; I suddenly realized that I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.

The psalmist wrote, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (111:10). Fearing God requires that we get things in the proper proportion, like the fact that He is so much greater in every way than we are. "The works of the Lord are great" (v.2). They are the outworking of His love, strength, wisdom, foresight, will, and faithfulness. Fearing God means coming to grips with this truth.

But it’s easy to miss the point when we don’t stay close to God. The closer we get to Him, the more we realize how much we are lacking, and how desperately we need His far greater wisdom to direct our lives. Left to our little selves, we get everything out of sync. If we’re honest, we have to admit that our limited perspective is often wrong and sometimes can be destructive.

Wise people realize how little they know and how much they need the great wisdom of God.

So I am going to church and I will sit down and listen.

Sunday, February 11, 2007