Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good evening, dear ones.

At this late hour, my eyes are crossing and my head wants to shut down. It’s been a full day. We rose kind of late this morning so that I didn’t get time to work this up before church—until this evening.

Sleep tight. Blessings.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Is it wisdom to seek God?—or is it foolishness? It depends on who you ask. Those of us who embrace, believe, and have been changed by the Biblical Gospel agree that there is no form of wisdom higher than seeking God and living to please Him. I’ll say it again—THAT’S WHY WE’RE HERE! But sadly, many choose to invert that order—a direct result of the NATURAL SIN NATURE—viewing the pursuit of pleasing God as something ranging anywhere from ridiculous and foolish to at least not worth the effort. Of course, that mindset is what the Bible defines as that of a fool. So, in this sense, the FOCUS VERSE is a valid statement—what we judge to be the highest form of wisdom, a HEART AFTER GOD, makes no sense to this brand of people. Living to please the Most High is simply too high—entirely out of touch with their preference to please their low and puny selves.

We are surrounded with varying degrees of fool speech—radio, television, movies, internet—the equivalent of the old idea of people gathering at the gates of a city to discuss ideas and decide courses of action. We hear lots of talk—but seldom does anyone have anything of substance to say concerning the higher issues of divine meaning, purpose, and righteousness.

What a dramatic contrast we find with the speech of David in Psalm 24! “The earth is the LORD’S and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). Wow!—what a high idea! “Lift up your heads, O you gates (and all those who gather at the gates to discuss the issues of earth); be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in” (Psalm 24:7). “Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty—he is the King of glory” (Psalm 24:10).

I’m reminded of Paul’s high handling of the wisdom surrounding “this King of Glory” in his writing to the Ephesians. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come… And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:17-22; 2:6-7).