June 18

Our lives are riddled with the pock marks of our bad decisions. We who have made many mistakes know that the integrity of the fabric of our being is compromised by every wrong choice we’ve indulged. Were the cloth of our existence to be held up to the light of intense scrutiny, it would surely appear to be quite moth-eaten.

Our foolishness has deteriorated our being to the point that we cannot deny our inability to do things rightly, to follow a worthy path, without the guidance of the One who made us for Himself. When we apprehend that truth, when we turn fully to Jesus and confess our inability to save ourselves or to live worthy lives apart from Him, He assures us that His help is available to us.

In James 1:5 we are told, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, because He gives it to everyone who asks liberally and without reproach.” When we recognize our need, the Lord assures us that He will supply it. And we cannot help but notice how the Christ who loves us will supply the wisdom we lack!

He will grant it to us ‘liberally and without reproach.’ He won’t tell us that we’ve messed up so badly that He doesn’t trust us with wisdom. He doesn’t wag His finger at us in reprimand prior to granting wisdom to us. No. He gives His wisdom generously to those who ask and there’s no ‘I-told-you-so’ extended in its granting.