By Shane Kastler
Wisdom is a good thing to pursue and possess. But sometimes, increased knowledge leads to increased pain. So said King Solomon: "In much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. (Ecclesiastes 1:18) The fact is that there are some things in life that you wish you didn't know. In some cases, the old expression, “Ignorance is bliss” is accurate.
Yet, we should pursue wisdom and knowledge in its many different forms. Sometimes increased knowledge of something makes us uncomfortable; but often times greater knowledge brings greater benefits. Wisdom is a good thing, if in all of your learning it leads you to the fountainhead of all wisdom, which is God Himself. And by God's grace you come to the conclusion, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 14:1) But wisdom and knowledge that is separated from a saving relationship with God is bound to either puff you up, lead you astray, or bring you down.
When Jesus healed a blind man in John 9, the Jewish leaders were furious and questioned the man as to how Jesus did this. When the man spoke of his allegiance to Jesus, he asked the leaders if they too wanted to follow Christ. Their reaction was to malign him, saying “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” (John 9:34) They saw him as an ignorant sinner and themselves as pious geniuses. What knowledge they had....had puffed them up.
Knowledge can also lead you astray if it is not rooted in the Lord. How many intellectuals in our world today mock and ridicule Christians for their so-called primitive belief in God? They wrongly claim that science has disproven God's existence. And while they may have learned a lot academically, it has done nothing but blind them even further from a spiritual perspective.
Finally, knowledge apart from Christ will bring you down. For all of his knowledge of the Jewish scriptures, Nicodemus knew he still lacked something; which was why he came to Jesus in John 3. Jesus spoke to him about being born again, but Nicodemus was clueless as to what this meant. His vast knowledge didn't teach him the one thing he needed to know more than anything else.
Seek wisdom that is rooted in a relationship with the Lord. Knowledge can be power, or it can destroy you. Begin with knowing God. Then proceed from there to learn everything else you can in life.
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