“Why then has this people turned away
in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
the rules of the Lord.
“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.” Jeremiah 8:5-12a
The prophet has strong words for those who speak words without wisdom. Apart from truth, what they think and say tangles with deception and evil without relenting, without shame, far from the wise and perfect ways of God. Their words untethered to the word are empty, yet potent enough to seep and stain character with greed, false hope, and lies. There is no wisdom apart from God’s word. They will surely meet harsh consequence.
When man plunges headlong in life on his own smarts, he will come to trouble. Relying on human wisdom is no match for God’s, our reasoning no comparison with the true and powerful word of God. Flesh distorts the perfection of the divine by inserting preference, opinion, selfish wants, personal agendas, and corrupted attitudes. It tangles the horizontal with the vertical into knots not trustworthy. Talk gets cheap and callous and crude and actions lack focus and high purpose apart from being tethered to pure truth. (Psalm 1)
We have a daily choice how to begin. If we would be wise, we must take in the word of God, written and living. Meditating on His counsels and deliberately filling up with His Spirit direct and energize our days for His work and glory. Refusing His word hardens the heart and sets us up for perpetual backsliding farther and farther from His blessed way. What will it be for us? (Ephesians 5:18)
What compels us each morning? How can we take in God’s wisdom for the decisions and assignments and opportunities that we’ll face? How can we release dependence on our own understanding to acknowledge His ways? What promises, warnings, instruction can be our filter and constant companion in dealing with the barrage of words coming our way? And how can we exemplify and impart wisdom to those we are among so they desire it too? (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Living Word, make me wise like You, for the honor of Your name. (John 1:1-4; Hebrews 4:12; James 1:5)
As the rain and snow 