Here's a sharing of some stuff that seems to be coming more clearly and closely into view. On one hand, I'm mostly just going to say, "This thing that's true is actually, really true." On the other, I just don't care enough to not spew what's got me really excited at the moment.
Where I'll end up is at some version of "Wisdom is good. Fearing/revering God is good. Humility is good." I think I'm just seeing a bit more clearly the gears that connect fear and humility with wisdom: how this works.
I'm not sure how well I'll be able to paint this blueprint in words, but here goes…
There's some huge correlation between one's posture of heart (as in, how willing one is to love another) and to how able they are to see things like they are (i.e. know what is true). I think this has to do with the fact that the same "person" who is at the steering wheel of our emotions and intentions is the same as the one who steers our minds. Therefore, if you desire/intend to do someone harm, then you will use your mind/thinking, as a worker uses a tool, to produce such. Essentially, you will "warp" or "bend" your reasoning (or stringing together of facts/events) in order to arrive, not at what is the most true, but at what is the most in line with your desires. This produces the "blindness of un-love." I think this is some of what Jesus was speaking about when He said, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness."
Are you willing to see good with your eye? If so, you will see things clearly as they are. If not, you will go blindly.
If you can see this connection, then you may also be amazed at noting that this wisdom of seeing things as they are is not a function then of how clever you are, (one's intelligence; sharpness of the hardware of the mind) but a function of what posture you choose to set your heart towards. I love that. This totally lends itself to showing how God may have designed in a sort of "safe-guard" against stuff that's not good, i.e. a way to put a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon and not a serial killer (even though they can and do get their hands on them).
What I'm seeing is that God seems to look within His children's hearts and give good gifts according to what they will do with them. He put a boy who is really good at looking after a bunch of sheep in charge of ruling the nation that is called by His Name. He put the big guns in the hands of the good-hearted small fries. Here's where I'm basically saying that it is very good to be humble, and God, seeing you, will feel compelled to exalt you. It is very good to fear God (not as in "Oh, look at that mean, scary deity who gets a kick out of spooking all his little-faith-lings," but as in, "Keep in mind that the hot chick you're going out with tonight has an armed and very protective father waiting at home for the news of the night."), and God, seeing you, will give you the ability to make choices that effect a lot of His children. It is very good to seek wisdom, and you will know and trust The Creator, the maker of life pleasure, and He will share this with you.
If I would sketch a flow-chart of this, it would look something like (see above)...
So here's the change that I'd like for you to leave with in your pocket: pay close attention to how you direct your intentions. Take seriously what you set your heart on. God is the designer of this machine we call the human being, and He designed it well. Pretend that God does actually hear all the stuff that flies between your ears. No, better yet, pretend that everyone else can (or at least will) hear what thoughts you think of them, and therefore, even if it's hard and goes against the grain of what you're now like, wield your will like an artist beautifying a dusty canvas. This is one of the awesome ways in which we were created in the likeness of God: we have the power to create, out of nothing, choices. Choices that effect the present in it's singular impact, and the future in it's impact on the choice maker themself.
Where I'll end up is at some version of "Wisdom is good. Fearing/revering God is good. Humility is good." I think I'm just seeing a bit more clearly the gears that connect fear and humility with wisdom: how this works.
I'm not sure how well I'll be able to paint this blueprint in words, but here goes…
There's some huge correlation between one's posture of heart (as in, how willing one is to love another) and to how able they are to see things like they are (i.e. know what is true). I think this has to do with the fact that the same "person" who is at the steering wheel of our emotions and intentions is the same as the one who steers our minds. Therefore, if you desire/intend to do someone harm, then you will use your mind/thinking, as a worker uses a tool, to produce such. Essentially, you will "warp" or "bend" your reasoning (or stringing together of facts/events) in order to arrive, not at what is the most true, but at what is the most in line with your desires. This produces the "blindness of un-love." I think this is some of what Jesus was speaking about when He said, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness."
Are you willing to see good with your eye? If so, you will see things clearly as they are. If not, you will go blindly.
If you can see this connection, then you may also be amazed at noting that this wisdom of seeing things as they are is not a function then of how clever you are, (one's intelligence; sharpness of the hardware of the mind) but a function of what posture you choose to set your heart towards. I love that. This totally lends itself to showing how God may have designed in a sort of "safe-guard" against stuff that's not good, i.e. a way to put a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon and not a serial killer (even though they can and do get their hands on them).
What I'm seeing is that God seems to look within His children's hearts and give good gifts according to what they will do with them. He put a boy who is really good at looking after a bunch of sheep in charge of ruling the nation that is called by His Name. He put the big guns in the hands of the good-hearted small fries. Here's where I'm basically saying that it is very good to be humble, and God, seeing you, will feel compelled to exalt you. It is very good to fear God (not as in "Oh, look at that mean, scary deity who gets a kick out of spooking all his little-faith-lings," but as in, "Keep in mind that the hot chick you're going out with tonight has an armed and very protective father waiting at home for the news of the night."), and God, seeing you, will give you the ability to make choices that effect a lot of His children. It is very good to seek wisdom, and you will know and trust The Creator, the maker of life pleasure, and He will share this with you.
If I would sketch a flow-chart of this, it would look something like (see above)...
So here's the change that I'd like for you to leave with in your pocket: pay close attention to how you direct your intentions. Take seriously what you set your heart on. God is the designer of this machine we call the human being, and He designed it well. Pretend that God does actually hear all the stuff that flies between your ears. No, better yet, pretend that everyone else can (or at least will) hear what thoughts you think of them, and therefore, even if it's hard and goes against the grain of what you're now like, wield your will like an artist beautifying a dusty canvas. This is one of the awesome ways in which we were created in the likeness of God: we have the power to create, out of nothing, choices. Choices that effect the present in it's singular impact, and the future in it's impact on the choice maker themself.
