Unless We Allow The Holy Spirit To Take Full Control Of Our Lives We Will Never Gain The Wisdom Required To Impart Knowledge In A Responsible Manner The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Prov. 9:10) Guide Me O Great Redeemer - https://youtube/watch?v=y3NmfmVGblw Have you ever asked yourself why you went to school? Was it just to get an education? Was it to move up the social ladder? Was it to take you out of poverty? Or what is just to follow the tradition of the family and the laws of the land? For many people having an education is the only way to climb up the social ladder. This morning the Lord is reminding us through James 3:1 that an increase in knowledge has a commensurate increase in accountability and responsible. The NIV version of this text renders it this way. “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” WOW!!! Why do you believe that God allowed you to gain additional knowledge? Was it just for you to climb out of poverty or to make you better known in certainly circle? The writer of the lesson reminds us that “Man is not the measure of all things; God is, and all true education begins and ends with Him.” Many people today while they were in poverty sought God for everything. But as many of us climb out of the bottom of the barrel of poverty with added income, somehow we don’t seem to have enough time to consult God. Instead to combing through the Holy scriptures to find a word of conform during a time a real stress, we walk into the Shopping Mall and purchase an item with a bid to ease the pain resulting from the stress. Somehow we no longer see the one who gave us the opportunity to gain a certificate of education as the centre of our lives. We somehow don’t have any time to spend with the giver of all things. I guess we have arrived and are no longer in need of any guidance and assistance from the one who have us the certificate of education. Take a few moments and reflect on the life of the Apostle Paul. In his early days as a member of the Jewish community, this highly educated Youngman, then called Saul, found himself persecuting those who followed Jesus. At the time his education would have Him to believe that His actions were in accordance with the will of God. But low and behold, he was totally wrong. While holding the clothes at the stoning of Phillip, I am sure the Lord was trying to get His attention. But Paul had no time to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. God had to confront Paul on the road to Damascus to get His attention. Only when Paul had an encounter with the Lord did he realize that his actions were not in accordance with the will of God. Sometimes God has to confront us in the same way He confronted Paul for us to realize that we have a GREAT responsibility to utilize the knowledge that God has given to us to spread the everlasting gospel to the ends of the world. I pray that we will continue to allow God to use us as we climb out of the bottom of poverty toward the top of the social ladder. God is going to hold us accountable for the knowledge that He has given to us. God requires those to whom he has given sacred trusts, to rise to the full height of their responsibilities. Man is placed here in the world on test and trial, and those who are given positions of trust must decide whether they will exalt self, or their Maker; whether they will use their power to oppress their fellow men, or to exalt and glorify God. Increased responsibilities bring increased accountability. He who would be a faithful servant must give entire and willing service to the greatest Teacher the world ever knew. His ideas and principles must be kept pure by the power of God. Every day he must learn to become worthy of the trust placed in him. His mind must be quickened by the divine power. His character must be uncontaminated by the influence of his relatives, his friends, or his neighbors. At times he must turn aside from active life to commune with God, and to hear his voice saying to him, Be still, and know that I am God. The fruits of the Spirit will be borne by the man who loves God, and keeps the way of the Lord, as the rich clusters of grapes grow on the living vine. Christ is his stronghold. Christ lived the law of God in humanity, and so may man do if he will by faith take hold on the strong and mighty One for strength. If he realizes that he cannot do anything without Christ by his side, God will give him wisdom. But he must cherish the love of Christ in his heart, and practise his lessons; for is he not to love Christ as Christ loved God? Is he not to demonstrate to all with whom he associates that he has the abiding presence of Jesus Christ more than he has ever had it before? Because of his increased responsibilities, he must have an increased knowledge of God, and must reveal that living faith that works by love, and purifies the soul. (Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers, pg. 30, 31 – Ellen G. White) Conducting recitations is only the beginning of a teachers work. The teacher has a heavy responsibility to bear in connection with the students entrusted to his care, and he is to understand that he can not throw off this responsibility. He has the oversight of those in his charge. He is to regard them as those who have been bought with a price. The work of a teacher does not end in the class-room. Because he is an educator, he is not to divorce himself from the church work. Power is to be brought into the church. Teachers are to strive to bring the church to a higher and still higher standard. (The Advocate, December 1, 1901 – Ellen G. White) Let parents seek the Lord with intense earnestness, that they may not be stumbling blocks in the way of their children. Let envy and jealousy be banished from the heart, and let the peace of Christ come in to unite, the members of the church in true Christian fellowship. Let the windows of the soul be closed against the poisonous malaria of earth, and let them be opened heavenward to receive the healing rays of the sunshine of Christs righteousness. Until the spirit of criticism and suspicion is banished from the heart, the Lord cannot do for the church that which He longs to do in opening the way for the establishment of schools; until there is unity, He will not move upon those to whom He has entrusted means and ability for the carrying forward of this work. Parents must reach a higher standard, keeping the way of the Lord and practicing righteousness, that they may be light bearers. There must be an entire transformation of mind and character. A spirit of disunion cherished in the hearts of a few will communicate itself to others and undo the influence for good that would be exerted by the school. Unless parents are ready and anxious to co-operate with the teacher for the salvation of their children, they are not prepared to have a school established among them. (Testimonies, vol. 6, pg. 202 – Ellen G. White)
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 12:12:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015