Not even the wisest people ...
In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night. I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim. -Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 NLT
Socrates once said "True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing." In truth, even our greatest minds know very little when their knowledge is compared to what there is to know about their area of expertise. In this passage Solomon seems to agree with that assessment. Yet there seems to be an intellectualism that permeates society that communicates an idea that is contrary to what Socrates and Solomon came to understand.
There is something about knowledge, even a lit bit of it, that twists us and causes us to do believe that we are more than we really are. In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul acknowledged that while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens us. I find a humility in those words that is so hard to grasp. In a sense, knowledge is all about us but love is all about others. Perhaps that is why wisdom is not all about knowledge?
Lord, keep us free from pride. Help us to embrace the humility of love.
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