by Jerry Senn
A young navy ensign, after nearly completing his first overseas cruise, was given an opportunity to display his capabilities at getting the ship under way. With a stream of commands, he had the decks buzzing with men, and soon the ship was heading out of the channel en route to the USA.
He had set a new record for getting a destroyer under way and he was not surprised when a seaman came up to him with a message from the captain. He was a bit surprised, however, to learn that it was a radio message which read:
“My personal congratulations upon completing your preparation exercise according to the book and with amazing speed. In your haste, however, you have overlooked one of the unwritten rules—make sure the captain is aboard before getting underway.”
Wisdom may be defined as “seeing things from God’s perspective.” It is the “right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.
The young naval ensign followed the book to the tee, but forgot a vital and logical factor for his training. In his haste to obey the book, he forgot to notice that the one judging his actions was not on board.
In our haste to follow the inspired teaching of scripture, we also may, in our haste, forget to make wise use of our learning. God has given us the ability to learn, but practical wisdom should guide our actions.
It would be helpful to read how God shows us how wisdom works:
“Four things on earth are small, but they are extremely wise. The ants are a people not strong, but they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard can be caught with the hands, yet it is in king’s palaces” (Proverbs 30:24-28).
All of us are limited in some way,
Yet each limitation points to a principle of wisdom,
Using knowledge properly!