We live in quite an amazing age of technology. Never before have so many had access to so much information. It is totally mind boggling to see what is available today at the touch of a few computer keys taking us to a search engine such as Google or Good Search.  My wife has a box of pears to can and was wondering why we go to all the bother of peeling them. Is it really necessary?  So, she just typed in her question on Google and within a minute had some answers. Guess we will try it without peeling them. Sure will save time. Any of you ever try it?  How did they turn out?
 
     As our technology and knowledge available expands at an exponential rate, ironically  what we are discovering helps us to see how little we know.  According to Reuters News Service, for example, the Hubble Space telescope has seen 10,000 galaxies in a window of the night sky about the size of a full moon. Who can begin to imagine what it means to find 10,000 galaxies in one small area of the heavens?  Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is made up of about 100 billion stars, and our whole solar system revolves around only one of them! 
 
      Research on the human body has shown how amazingly complex we really are.   The Human Genome Project, for example, is harvesting knowledge faster than our minds can process, as scientists attempt to map and sequence all of the 100,000 genes of the human body, with the goal of finding treatment and prevention of disease.  Deciphering the DNA alphabet of the human body brings with it both exciting and disturbing possibilities.  As with everything else in life, there is a downside to living on an information highway. Overloaded computers can crash and our minds too can lock up. While looking for useful information, we can get lost in a blinding blizzard of data that our finite brains just cannot handle.  And we encounter information that can be dangerous to our emotional, mental and spiritual health.  The same browsers we are using to solve our problems and answer our questions can also be used for pornography or instructions on how to make a bomb or to carry out crimes or acts of terrorism. 
 
     The very first couple to inhabit this planet discovered long ago that knowledge without wisdom is dangerous. By eating from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” they made the fatal mistake of trying to match wits with their Creator.  They were deceived by Satan into thinking that they would be “as God” and wouldn’t  need to depend upon Him any longer. Well, that lie is still around today and  many are following it.  When sin entered the human race through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, human knowledge became infected like corrupted computer files which have been attacked by a virus that clogs information systems.   The pursuit of knowledge without wisdom can overload our minds and drown us in data and lead us in a direction away from God. Because of our old sinful nature inherited from Adam, we have a tendency to use knowledge for things that are opposed to the character and purposes of God.  The Apostle Paul said that “knowledge makes arrogant” (I Cor. 8:1); i.e, knowledge alone  (without a godly perspective) leads to humanistic pride.  King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived (apart from Christ) wrote much about knowledge and wisdom, saying: “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly” (Pr. 15:2).  Our secular  knowledge needs to be governed by an overriding knowledge of God and His Word.  The Old Testament prophet Hosea wrote: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (Hos. 4:6).  They didn’t  “know” God.  Solomon said “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of  knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Pr. 1:7).  “My son, if  you will receive my sayings, and treasure my commandments within you…then you will discern the fear of the LORD, and discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up wisdom for the upright” (Pr. 2:1,5-7).  “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Pr.  9:10).  “Wise men store up knowledge, but with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand” (Pr. 10:14). 
 
      Wisdom is the practical side of knowledge, enabling us to use insight  skillfully to reach a desired goal. But, there is more than one kind of wisdom.  According to the New Testament, the wisdom of the world is different than the wisdom of God. The first is self-centered and uses knowledge to get ahead at the expense of others. The second comes from God and uses knowledge to glorify God and for the good of others. Paul speaks of worldly wisdom in his letter to the Romans, saying: “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him  as God, or give thanks;; but they became futile in their speculations, and their  foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Ro.  1:21,22). As a result they began worshiping the creation (evolution and animism) instead of the Creator and dishonored God with perverted sexual  practices of homosexuality and lesbianism (Ro. 1:23-28).  In contrast, James wrote about Godly wisdom, saying: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits,  unwavering, without hypocrisy” (Jas. 3:16). 
 
      There is an unbelievable amount of information available today,  literally at our fingertips. But, be careful in accessing it that you filter it through a knowledge of God and His Word.  Make sure that you use Godly wisdom to apply the knowledge you gain. “How blessed is the man who  finds (godly) wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.  For it is better than the profit of silver, and its gain than fine gold. She is more  precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her” (Pr.  3:13-16).
 
                       Forever  His,
 
                                 Pastor  Dave