A New Devotion - Knowledge Comes with Humility

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. It's based on the passage below. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Ephesians 1:15-23 [Contemporary English Version]

I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people. So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and you will understand the hope given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all God's people.

I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side in heaven. There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well. God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything. The church is the body of Christ and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything. 

Knowledge Comes with Humility

When I was younger, much younger, I took a lot of pride in my ability to do well in college classes. Now, let me be clear, I knew that I wasn’t the sharpest knife in the draw. Still, I was really good at knowing what the professors considered important and cramming this information into my head before taking the test. I was also pretty good at answering essay questions and writing papers. And that continued through graduate school, including seminary. Unfortunately, this confidence came crashing down when I took an Old Testament class taught by Dr. Mays. You see, although I could still ace the exams, on my first of two papers for the course, I completely missed the boat. Even though I thought I was doing what he wanted me to do, I went into great depth explaining material he didn’t consider important, while neglecting what should have been my focus. I blew it, and so, as the second paper loomed, I was concerned that there was a distinct possibility that I might blow it again. It was with fear and trembling that I wrote it, and when I reread it, I honestly thought I’d nailed it. But I felt the exact same way on paper number one. And so, I made a decision to do something I’d never done before. Instead of trusting my uncanny ability to provide the professor exactly what he or she wanted, I decided to show my paper to the grad student who was assisting Dr. Mays, something that we’d been told we could do. In other words, I decided to push aside my pride and ask for help. And I was glad I did. As it turned out, I’d missed the mark again, explaining to death trivia while completely missing the big picture. I rewrote the paper and did fine. But I never would have known what was wanted if I hadn’t humbled myself and listened.

And I thought about this when I read Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. You see, he wanted them to appreciate God’s power and glory and love. And he really wanted them to understand what it meant to be chosen and blessed so that they could face the future with hope and do the work they’d been called to do right there in the present. Now that’s what Paul prayed about. And even though I’m a believer in prayer, I also believe that this appreciation and understanding was only going to be possible by the Ephesians choosing to set aside their pride and ill-placed confidence. And with that out of the way, they’d then be free to open their eyes so that they could see and their minds so that they could comprehend and their hearts so that they could experience. In other words, as it was for me in Dr. Mays’ Old Testament class or any of us trying to figure out how to live the lives we’ve been given, knowledge really does come with humility.