Cut the Baby in Half

Cut the baby in half.  That was the declaration of Solomon, the wisest king in Old Testament history.  His only request from God was for wisdom and discernment as ruler, and his first test was the case of two prostitutes fighting over a baby.  Cut the baby in half, he said, and the real mother stepped forward with this distraught plea...Give her the baby.  Solomon knew at that moment who the real mother was, and the little one was placed in her arms.  (1 Kings, Chap. 3)

I never tire of reading and re-reading the stories, proverbs, and parables in the Bible that illustrate wisdom.  You can't close the Book without knowing thoroughly the difference between a wise man and a fool. 

The world hates biblical wisdom because it cramps its style.  I struggle with it, too, because it brings all the blackness to the surface and I can see the stain of sin in the mirror.  But I treasure it, this Wisdom, because it reminds me I am not what I used to be and I am rescued by a Miraculous Grace.

Human wisdom sometimes sees the immediate cause of a problem but it does not see the root, which is always sin. It may see that selfishness is a cause of injustice, but it has no way to remove selfishness. It may see that hatred causes misery and pain and destruction, but it has no cure for hatred. It can see plainly that man does not get along with man, but it does not see that the real cause is that man does not get along with God.  -John MacArthur

A quick read-through of the first section of Proverbs paints a wonderful picture of wisdom personified as a woman, calling through the streets, "People, you are eating the fruit of your ways!  How long are you going to live this way?" (paraphrase)

She's talking to the depraved, wicked people, right?  The mass murderers, the drug addicts, the greedy politicians.  Or is she talking to me?  Is she getting down deep in the marrow of my bones and saying, "Jill, have you ignored my advice?" 

"Why, of course not, I'm a good person."

"Oh?  Have you gossiped lately? (Prov. 11:13)

"Um, maybe..."

"Have you withheld unduly?" (Prov. 11:24)

"Withheld what?"

"You tell me," is Wisdom's reply.  "Have you watched your tongue?" (Prov. 10: 19)

"Well, my kids might have an opinion about that.  Sorry." 

The longer I walk this road of faith and seek Wisdom, the more I am enchanted with her beauty and long for her peace and security...and the more I am aware of my own complacency.  The dingy froth of foolishness bubbles up in parenting choices, relationship foibles, and a million other decisions that could have been better had I sought Wisdom's way.

Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right. -C.H. Spurgeon

Let us consider together where best to seek wisdom.  It's so much easier to open O Magazine than the Bible.  The modern talkers will tickle our ears and stir up our passions, but the Word WAS, IS, and WILL BE, long after columnists, talk show hosts, and "experts" turn to dust. 

So I choose to join Wisdom in the public square, seeing the world through her eyes, listening to her instruction, and living in her circle of blessing.