Proverbs 14:6 The scoffer seeks wisdom but finds none, but understanding is easy for a discerning person.
Prior to reading this passage today I was praying for wisdom, just following Solomon's example of asking for it above riches and power. You see a lot of other passages in the Proverbs which mention how we should truly value wisdom above all other material things.
I remember taking note of this verse before, only I put more of my attention in the second part: 'knowledge comes easy to one who has understanding.' I should have known better.
If you ask me about how yesterday went, I would give you an answer in the lines of 'awful'... Or 'needed improvement' at the least. For some reason I was very irritable and quick to speak, with a heart full of wrath. To think that I was just with my parents yesterday, too.
When I read that verse again today, my attention was on the first part: 'the scoffer seeks wisdom but finds none.'
At first I imagined a scoffer as merely one of those guys who openly jeers at a public speaker. I knew there was a deeper definition, so i opened the handy dandy NOAD app again, and here's what I dug out:
Scoffer: (one who) speaks in a scornfully derisive or contemptuous manner.
Scorn: the feeling or belief that someone or something is worthless or despicable; contempt.
That's 2 times I saw the word contempt.
Contempt: The feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.
Whoa. I must confess, beloved, that this is one avenue of pride that I have struggles with. Someone called me cynical way back when I was in elementary school, and I thought it was a good thing to be called a word which I thought at the time sound sophisticated.
People who have worked with me have probably witnessed a hint of how I could be contemptuous and/or cynical. Yesterday was an exercise in bringing out personal awareness of the fact that these attitudes are still present and they certainly need to be addressed.
That other verse I previously discussed comes into mind:
"You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things..."
Matthew 25:23
Many of us tend to ask the Lord about what He gifted us with. I believe that we should keep stepping up our efforts in determining what we have more struggles with; if we address these issues I am confident that we can come to the Lord in true understanding, for knowledge to come to us easily.
Psalms 139:23-24 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! Test me, and know my concerns! See if there is any idolatrous tendency in me, and lead me in the reliable ancient path!
Amen. To God be all the glory. I pray that the Lord reveals anything in us that needs to be addressed, so we can take one step back and two steps forward.
Posted in http://jibee.blogspot.com/. God bless you!