Discernment

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

DISCERNMENT

Prov 28:11

11 A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

NIV

Oh the foolishness of thinking oneself wise just because of being wealthy. That might bring some respect from others who are wealthy or it might bring praise from those who would be the parasites that cling around living off the rich man. There is something that could be understood here. There is the idea of false and true riches pictured for us. The rich man has the false riches, and the poor man who has understanding can discriminate between the two. We can see this in the experience of the man born blind who was healed by Jesus.

John 9:30-34

30 The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34 To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.

NIV

He was poor but understood that Jesus was from God. The Pharisees, who were definitely rich men were outraged that a poor blind man would lecture them about spiritual matters. They were so wise in their own eyes they could not see the truth if it stood right in front of them. This might well speak of spiritual wealth more than monetary wealth. That was the case with the healed man and the Pharisees. There are some Christians who think themselves wise in their own minds and are even hailed by others as being wise. But does that mean they understand the truth? Wisdom does not come from self-effort, but from God. We are not told if any man lacks wisdom he should go to school to learn it. We are told he should ask God and he will give wisdom.

James 1:4-8

 5 If any of you lacks wisdom , he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

NIV

The key here is not having doubt, in other words thinking that we also need to do something in order to gain wisdom. It is simply from God and from him it comes generously. He is not stingy with it, he gives wisdom in abundance to the man who is poor in spirit, who simply believes God. It is just like salvation. It is not Jesus plus something. Wisdom comes from God. It is not God plus something of human origin. So let us not think more highly of ourselves than we should but simply look to God for all things, seeking his kingdom first and foremost. Looking to the kingdom of this world only gives way to thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, seeing ourselves wise. This is the discernment which comes from God.