1.) The Necessity of Wisdom: Wisdom comes from observation, reflection, and being steeped in the Word of God, along with understanding human nature (male and female), children and adults, etc., and pulling out principles from nature and God's Word and molding them to fit present circumstances which stand before you in your particular place and time, with your people/family. Leading your wife and children in the home is not a paint by numbers project, but because Christians today often treat all of life, and the Christian life in particular in this way (with proof-text Christianity), we often think that it is. In fact, the Westminster Divines, when crafting the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, did not want to put in the proof-texts originally, but were required by the government/parliament that convened them to do so. They knew that the doctrines they were upholding and putting in confessional and catechetical format cannot be cherry picked from a few verses, but are only discerned through an intimate, thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. So the proof texts served something like "exegetical mile markers" as others called it, but to really grasp these doctrines, you have to do more than look at the proof texts. You have to know your Bibles thoroughly, intimately, and as an unfolding story, which is what it is. You need the wisdom of the Bible, not just proof texts pulled out of context.
6.) The necessity of humility: A lack of wisdom, we know intuitively, exposes our ignorance, and when it comes especially to incompetency or lack of wisdom as a father and husband, it exposes great shortcomings. We all have these shortcomings, and so we must all be humble..... |
