Wisdom – September 22, 2024

What About Jesus? Devotions

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
James 3:13

Wisdom

Daily Devotion – September 22, 2024

Devotion based on James 3:13
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In 2007, a man named Dan Dewey was sitting next to his elderly father in a hospital in Pontiac, Michigan. His father had leukemia, and every week Dan took him to the hospital to receive chemotherapy. As he sat there, he offered to get his dad a treat—a flavored coffee from a local Starbucks. Before he left, Dan looked around the room at all the other people enduring the same ordeal his father was. He decided to bring each of them a flavored coffee, too.

Dan has been doing it ever since. Every single week. He accepts no money from the patients. He sees his coffee run as a chance to show kindness to someone else.

That true story goes a long way to illustrate what the Bible means when it talks about wisdom. I might think of wisdom as a series of profound sayings coming from a mysterious mystic on top of a mountain. The Lord is much more real. The Lord describes wisdom in terms of how I live my life, by the deeds I do to touch the lives of others.

The Lord’s view of wisdom involves deeds done in…humility. And that’s where Jesus comes in. When I stand at the foot of the cross and understand that it was my sin for which Jesus died. When I realize that my life is full and fresh and forgiven because of what my Savior has done on my behalf—that’s when real wisdom begins. That’s when I see my life as a beautiful chance to thank the Lord for what he has done. That’s when I see my life as a precious string of opportunities to thank my Savior by touching the lives of others.

Maybe someone in your life needs a cup of coffee today. Or perhaps a listening ear or just a kind word. Take a moment to fill that need. That’s what wisdom is.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, so often I have led a busy life instead of a wise one. Forgive me. Renew my heart. Fill my life with deeds done in the humility that comes from the wisdom of knowing you as my Savior. Amen.

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