How many of us tend to separate our
religious life from life itself. We seem to live ‘secularly’ during our work
week and when we relax, but on Sundays or during our midweek meetings we switch
over to ‘spiritual mode’. Countless times I have spoken to somebody and when
the conversation went in a spiritual direction they suddenly switch over to
this solemn tone of voice and facial expression. How does our thinking process
differ when we are involved with the spiritual things in comparison with when
we think about the practicalities of life? Don’t we sometimes ‘not think’ when
we face spiritual dilemmas or just stand back passively hoping that the Lord will
intervene?
The Lord once showed me that I have
received a certain level of intelligence and that, in cooperation with the Holy
Spirit, I need to use my gift of intelligence just as much as I would use any
of the other gifts I have received for the purpose of building the Kingdom of
God. When Jesus sent out the twelve in Matthew 10:16 He told them: “I am
sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Other translations use the word
wise instead of shrewd, but if one looks at the Greek, shrewd or crafty are accurate
translations. What Jesus actually told the disciples here is: ‘Listen my
friends, don’t just barge into spiritual challenges and let people walk all
over you. Think it through, hear from the Holy Spirit, and be clever.’ We need
to outsmart the enemy with our intelligence skills, guided by wisdom and anointing
from above.
Jesus said in Mark 13:11: “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry
beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for
it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” This does not only apply to
persecution, but to any challenge we face as we serve the Kingdom of God. We
may be challenged with arguments by a person from some false religion whom we
try to lead to the Lord, or for that matter by anybody who do not believe. We
need to have an attitude of being wise, clever, shrewd, crafty, or whatever we
want to call it, creating in us the right frame of mind to use our intelligence
skills, combined with the Holy Spirit’s wisdom to accomplish His will.
Being crafty or shrewd has a bad
sound to it, I admit, especially in the light of us having to be pure and holy,
but it is only a skill to outsmart the enemy in a war situation, which we
actually are in. We always need to measure our actions by Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Paul was a good example in this
respect. When he was arrested by the Roman army after being falsely accused by
the Jews and being prepared to be flogged to get him to talk, we read in Acts
22:25: “As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to
the centurion standing there, ‘Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who
hasn’t even been found guilty?’” What a clever move. He could have just
submitted to ‘what will be, will be’,
but the Holy Spirit reminded him of his heritage and he acted like a son of the
King. I love the soldiers’ reaction in verse 29: “Those who were about to
question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he
realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.”
Something
similar happened in Acts 16:37-38: “But Paul said to the officers: ‘They beat
us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us
into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come
themselves and escort us out.’
The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they
heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.” He
stood his ground.
The
Lord knows how to deal with people and how to build His Kingdom. All He needs
from us is to respond to His instructions bravely by using our intelligence.
Lord,
please guide me.
Thank you Lord that your Word went
out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you
empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which
you sent it.
Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.
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