City Life Starter

Written by Blesson Selvanesan

The Word

₅ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ₆ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ₇ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ₈ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:5-8 (ESV)

_{² “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.}

Exodus 31:2-5

Interpretation

God is an extremely creative and competent being. He created and he saw that it was good. He is a good creator. He imparted that competence and creativity to mankind as we are made in His image. As His image bearers, we are called to emulate His character in our physical and spiritual life. God filled mankind with extraordinary abilities and talents and encouraged us to find it out and use it to glorify Him. God commended talents, ability and competence.

Man in his fallen nature became blind and purposeless thereby either unable to use and became able to abuse his competence. This is where wisdom is essential to get to the crux of his ability to use it in a way that was intended by God. He also made a way for us to reach out to Him to seek his wisdom. God despised the doubtful people who were double minded and could not trust anything and anyone. Unfortunately, this is what the modern day skeptic has become. At this day and age, truth has no longer any objective value and by making everything subjective and we have made a mockery of ourselves. We have become faithless double minded tossed by the wind and the wave. However, God created us a stable men and women with an ability to learn, seek and grow in competence with the help of God. 

Application

Competence is essential for survival. Although we have given extra-ordinary importance to competence at workplace, we failed to see the whole picture. Our competence has become reduced to our profession competence. However the key question is to make the right decision in every aspect of our life, not just in professional life. This can only happen if we rely on God’s wisdom. In this interesting passage in Exodus, God appointed Bezalel a skilled crafts man to work on the Ark of the Covenant. It is fascinating to note that, he says that Bezalel is filled with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills. All his professional competence came from and is linked to his spiritual relationship with God. It is essential that we seek God for wisdom to gain competence.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Help us to see You for wisdom and learn from Your wisdom. Fill us with Your Spirit so that we can be competent to glorify You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.