Whereunto He hath abounded unto us in all wisdom and prudence. Ephesians 1:8
The philosopher Voltaire once declared that common sense is not so common. Although there is very little else that Voltaire said that I would agree with, he was right about common sense. It seems to be a scarce commodity these days. Here’s another quote about common sense, this time from American patriot Harriet Beecher Stowe: ‘Common sense is seeing things as they are; and doing things as they ought to be’. That may be an excellent definition of common sense, but it is not a good description of common behaviour. Consider the matter of our soul’s eternal welfare. Common sense tells us that the length of eternity demands that we place our highest priority on preparing more for the next life than for the present. And yet, so very few do. Common sense would remind Christians that the eternal rewards for a life served within God’s will far exceed any temporal rewards in this life. And yet, how little of our lives do we actually surrender to His will? You would think from the scarcity of common sense that wisdom is hard to come by. But it’s not! Our text reminds us that, as one of the spiritual blessings that accompany our salvation, God has flooded us with access to true wisdom. The word translated ‘prudence’ is the term for practical wisdom, or common sense.
There is a very good reason why life often improves for a person after they are saved. Because a believer has access to divine wisdom, that believer can see the folly of destructive habits, of bad companions, of unwise choices of careers, entertainment, and other pursuits. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, as we read in 2 Timothy 1:7: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind’. The Holy Spirit guides the believer into better choices in all areas of life, although the believer does not always follow that guidance properly. The wisdom that we need is ours for the asking, as we read in James 1:5: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him’. The key is to recognize that God’s wisdom far exceeds the wisdom of this world, and we must learn to set aside the world’s wisdom when it clashes with the Word of God: ‘Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness’ (1 Corinthians 3:18-19).
Because we are in Christ Jesus, we have access to infinite wisdom, because in Him ‘are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (Colossians 2:3). We can be as wise today as we will let the Lord make us. -Jim MacIntosh