Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ~ James 3:13
In 2007, a man by the name of Dan Dewey was sitting next to his elderly father in a hospital in Pontiac, Michigan. His father had leukemia, and every week Dan took him to the hospital to receive chemotherapy. As he sat there, he offered to get his dad a treat—a flavored coffee from a local Starbucks. Before he left, Dan looked around the room at all the other people who were enduring the same ordeal his father was. He decided to bring each of them a flavored coffee, too.
Dan has been doing it ever since. Every single week. He accepts no money from the patients. He simply sees his coffee run as a chance to show kindness to someone else.
That true story goes a long way to illustrate what God’s Word means when it talks about wisdom. I might think of wisdom as a series of profound sayings coming from a mysterious mystic on top of a mountain. The Lord is much more real. The Lord describes a wise person in terms of how they live their life, by the deeds they do to touch the lives of others.
The Lord’s view of wisdom involves deeds done in humility. And that’s where Christ comes in. When I stand at the foot of the cross, when I understand that it was my sin for which Jesus died, when I realize that my life is full and fresh and forgiven because of what my Savior has done on my behalf—that’s when real wisdom begins. That’s when I begin to see my life as a beautiful chance to thank the Lord for what he has done. That’s when I begin to see my life as a precious string of opportunities to thank my Savior by touching the lives of others.
Lord Jesus, so often I have led a busy life instead of a wise one. Forgive me. Renew my heart. Fill my life with deeds done in the humility that comes from the wisdom of knowing you as my Savior. Amen.
Living Hope Church 