Mensa Otabil - A Humble Posture

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Proverbs 3, verses 7 and 8: «Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.» One of the big challenges we face in getting educated in life is intellectual pride. When we gain a little education, we feel we know everything. We get a little exposure, and we think we know everything. Some people travel a little, and they believe they’re the best individuals in the whole world simply because they traveled from one place to another, or studied something, or read a book, or met somebody. They become so inflated in their own eyes about their own importance. It is this attitude of feeling superior because of some knowledge we have that tempts us to depart from the Lord. That was the first temptation in the Garden of Eden. Eve was promised that she would be made wiser, and she thought that was something to pursue; that is what led humanity into trouble.

The passage tells us not to be wise in our own understanding. This simply means don’t think you know it all. Don’t assume you’re the best. Don’t believe that what you know is all there is to know. Just because you earned a little degree, do not think you have become the best person in the world. Whether you read a book, attended a seminar or workshop, or met someone important, don’t believe you are now the smartest person. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; don’t be so self-opinionated that you can’t listen to anything else. It’s a fair warning for all of us. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek education. God gave us a brain, and we must use our brains to study. He gave us creation to learn from, so our brains and creation should interact. We gain knowledge, but our knowledge must not make us puffed up. Knowledge must actually make us humble about how little we know and how much more we must learn.

Then it says we must fear the Lord; we must show reverence to God in our learning. That’s a good combination: learning and knowledge should lead us to fear the Lord. When you observe the awesomeness of God’s creation, there has to be some reverence in your heart for the One who made all these things, even if you don’t fully understand it all. Learning brings us to a fear of the Lord. The passage then promises that when we aren’t wise in our own eyes, when we don’t think we are the smartest people in the world, and when we allow knowledge to lead us to fear the Lord, it says it will be health to us and soundness to us. It makes our lives worthy, beautiful, and well-rounded.

So for all of you who are learning, learn and learn and learn, but don’t be wise in your own eyes. Don’t pursue any knowledge that separates you from God, that diminishes the power of God in your life, or that does not factor God in as greater than all that we are. If you fear the Lord and serve Him, your knowledge, your information, your education, and your intellectual exposure will bring health and soundness to you. May the Lord cause you to be very knowledgeable, God-fearing, and to live a very healthy life.

Let’s share a word of prayer together. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, You are the all-wise and all-knowing God. Help me not to be wise in my own eyes. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»