Wisdom.....half baked

I fell upon this from my diary entry last fall on the occasion of my birthday while camped on Flowing lake near Snohomish Wa.

"So this day's dawn will break upon me as wisdom half baked for I dare not say I have obtained anything other than a good education in pursuit of it. Wisdom is it's own reward and must be equally matched with discipline and clothed with humility. Wisdom without discipline is idle knowledge and will only puff oneself up.

In the past I have turned to wealth and it's pursuit but only to find it is a hard taskmaster. Notoriety was enjoyable,but by it's very nature is opposed to solitude and reflecting . Besides all that it sets one up as a prime target for enemies due to envy, for men cannot endure your success .

But there is value in having chased fantasy and the illusion of success. Having tested these illusions one knows personally their futility which results in experiential wisdom or rather wisdom owned. Solomon said,"Seek wisdom more than silver ,more than gold."Yet Solomon in all of his wisdom and knowledge failed to put God first. Wisdom applied should lead one closer to it's source which is Christ. The Apostle Paul said,"In Christ Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."Later in his letter to the Corinthians he says in knowing him intimately we,"possess the mind of Christ."

At this turn in the road I have decided to let wisdom bake fully and follow Paul's later advice to Timothy, " Make your ambition to lead a quiet life.....do something useful with your hands." and "Godliness with contentment is great gain.For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothes, with these we shall be content."Does wisdom necessitate simplicity? Or is simplicity wisdom itself by intentionally choosing,"less is more" Thoreau,Gandhi,Rousseau and Jesus thought so.

Our quest for any sort of certitude on any level ,(outside of Christ),is absurd . Tolstoy was obsessed with the transitory nature of life and it's constant endless motion. To place our peace and tranquility on having a slice of the pie of this life unchanged is setting oneself up for disappointment. " Certitude is mortals worst enemy",so said the bard. Macbeth is the tragedy of our quest for certitude and in yielding to it's call we must conclude with the story that," His illusion led to his confusion"Our pursuit of certitude on all levels is equally absurd, but worse, for in chasing it we follow Macbeth's tragedy and fulfill our own doom in our quest.

"I consider all things rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus."Thus spoke Paul on the futility not only of half baked wisdom but in all things certain outside of Christ.Man was never intended or designed to have anything outside of God himself. But because our sin separated us from him we have cultivated self will and self determinism. Evangelicalism has failed in it's mission to identify ourselves solely in Christ the author of wisdom.
Man was never intended to have self knowledge or wisdom of anything outside of God. We came up with foolish postulations and maxims like ;my personal saviour,my gifting ,my anointing all predicated on self will and self knowledge ;self this and self that. But Paul makes clear that,"I no longer live ...the life I live I live by faith in the son of God." And,"Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why as though you still belong to it do you submit to it's rules?"Elsewhere in Colossians,"You died and and your life is now hid with Christ in God."

It is apparent from scripture and some of the world's greatest thinkers that our mission and quest for wealth,notoriety,position or power are all illusions sure to disappoint. Truly what we are after is a measure of certainty in this life and we falsely believe these things will help bring us closer to some level of certitude. This can never be for God desires to be our only certainty and any knowledge or wisdom exercised outside of him is simply.....wisdom half baked.