A Thought

“Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth; think of the Lord in goodness and seek Him with sincerity of heart; because He is found by those who do not put Him to the test, and manifests Himself to those who do not distrust Him.  For perverse thoughts separate people from God, and when His power is tested, it exposes the foolish, because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.  For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit and will leave foolish thoughts behind, and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.”  Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-5

Reading more from the books of the “Apocrypha”, I often wonder why these spiritually insightful books did not “make the cut” in the Protestant bibles but are still retained by the Catholics and the Orthodox Christians.  Then again, I suppose if every useful book of antiquity were to be retained as authoritative, it might require the use of a truck to carry one’s Bible around!

What stood out for me in this passage, however, is in verse 3: “For perverse thoughts separate people from God, and when His power is tested, it exposes the foolish …”  This makes me think of how easily we Christians can be lulled into a complacent spirit of being in not protecting ourselves  from “perverse” thoughts that come not only from our neighbors and co-workers but also from within our own hearts.  Because we are so comfortably settled in our own sense of righteousness, we do not always “vet” the thoughts we have against the knowledge of Scriptures.  We rely on “bumper sticker slogans” or a few out-of-context, short Bible verses to make us feel good about ourselves while we go about our own business, not wanting to be known of as “holier than thou” or “Bible beaters” or “Jesus freaks”.  We would rather be “liked” than respected.  It is then when we are “exposed” as the “foolish” we have become, for the world can see right through us.

It is often said that “only the Lord knows my heart” but the wisdom herein reminds us that when we are “exposed”, we are fully “exposed” not only to our Lord but to those around us – especially the unbelievers who know the Scriptures (better than many Christians, I might add!) and call us “hypocrites” because we say one thing but do another.

Yet “a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit and will leave foolish thoughts behind”.  This is the underlying message in Wesleyan Methodist “discipline”; discipline which requires effort, real work, devotion, and mutual accountability so that we are reminded of who we truly are. It is, in a word, discipleship.

We know who we truly are and to Whom we belong, deep down.  So let us put aside the “perverse thoughts” that separate us from our Holy Father and live as we are called to live; fully and eternally!

Blessings,

Michael