Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: James 3:13-18 and Isaiah 11:1-9

Isaiah 11 was a Messianic prophecy, which boldly declared hundreds of years in advance that the Messiah would be empowered and enabled by the “Spirit of the Lord”. His life would be characterised by Spirit-given wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. This was fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus, but it is also relevant to us as Christ-followers, because the same Spirit also dwells in us and will produce the same qualities in us.

Today let’s pause for a moment to ponder the word “understanding” as it relates to wisdom (See also James 3:13). The word “understanding” in Hebrew (ubinah) includes the sense of a sharp ability to smell. John Trapp said this word described Jesus’, “sharpness of judgment in smelling out a hypocrite” even when there was no outward evidence to suggest that that person was hypocritical and everyone else around Jesus thought the hypocrite to be “the real deal”. It’s no surprise then that he root word for understanding, “bin“, means “to discern”.

Godly wisdom is built on the Spirit-enabled ability to discern the correct course of action, because it is able to see beyond the outwardly presented “face value” and perceive/discern/”sniff out” the deeper realities. As Isaiah 11:3-4 says: “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears.”

Today, let’s seek the Spirit’s enablement to see the situations in front of us with a deeper discernment of what is actually going on. Let’s not just take everything at face value but allow the Holy Spirit to take us deeper and guide us with His understanding. Amen!