Believe That God Will Give You Wisdom

James 1:1-11 & Mk. 8:11-13

Today we begin reading from the letter of St. James, who was a relative of Jesus. It is a very old writing, dating back to possibly the year 62 A.D. The content of this letter was probably a sermon given during the liturgy. Its main purpose was to insist that Christianity must be practical; that faith must influence the way we live. What good is faith if it does not produce good works? It has to be seen in action.

St. James tells us that faith enables us to pray, and he tells us what to ask for, the gift of wisdom. I find the easiest way to describe wisdom is to look upon it as having the eyes of God, seeing all things as He sees them. Once we do this we begin thinking like God and living like God. It will give direction and balance to our lives and we will most certainly sin less.

Wisdom was the gift which the Pharisees lacked. They approached Christ with a closed mind. They had seen all the wonders He had done. He had just fed 4000 people using seven loaves and a few small fish. Surely they would have also heard about the sick people He had healed. He had even raised a dead young girl to life. Knowing all this, they were still foolish enough to ask Him for a sign to prove who He was.

Jesus' response to this was an exasperated sigh. He loved these men, but He knew that no matter what He said or did they were not going to be convinced. Their minds and hearts were closed to Him. If Jesus had seen in them just a flicker of faith and even the smallest desire to learn from Him, His response would not have been a sigh but words of wisdom. So Jesus said nothing, but, as the Gospel says He left them again. This was tragic. The greatest teacher of all time was there to teach them how to be wise and they could not learn from Him. Let us not make the mistake the Pharisees made, but listen to St. James in asking God for His gift of wisdom for he assures us that God will give it to us. This should be one of the things we can ask God for every time we say our morning prayers and when we have Jesus with us in Holy Communion. This was the very same gift that Solomon asked of God and God gave it to him.

Lord Jesus give us always the gift of wisdom and to use it in our daily lives.