9:3 – She [Wisdom] has sent out her maidens, She cries from the highest places of the city,
9:4 – “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
9:5 – “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
9:6 – Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.”
Yesterday morning, I was talking with one of the assistants in a class I am leading. He talked about the Socrates quote:
“This one thing I know, that I know nothing.”
This thought has been a source of courage for him when confronted by new technology or new situations, which, since he’s in IT (Information Technologies) is often.
This “mantra” reminds him that we are always being confronted with what’s new and it’s OK to not know until we do know!
One of society’s biggest challenges today is to admit ignorance. (Kind of sounds like “Pride,” doesn’t it?) Until we do that, we will never gain wisdom.
Today’s information and today’s technology certainly make life easier for everyone; we all get more done in less time. Simultaneously, we complain of missing what matters most in our lives – the relationships with those that matter to us! The “more” we get done is crowding out of our lives what is most important to us. We’ve become so busy that we have stopped paying attention to the important things.
And, we know it!
There’s a movie about Mother Teresa that is coming out (or has just come out). Her success and her fame (and I hesitate to use the word because it was not something she ever sought) resulted from her willingness to humble herself and to be used by God. To admit that she didn’t know His plan, but she was willing to trust Him and in His Son. She was humble enough to admit, first of all, that she was simple.
Which makes total sense when we read verses 9:5 and 9:6. Jesus said that He is the bread and the wine. And, only a fool would turn down a free paid up, eternal, fire insurance policy. AND, by accepting that gift, we get a new heart, a new friend to live in it, and someone to help us become more and more like Christ.
The first step is fearless simplicity.
