The time I have set aside to write this blog I usually spend at a grocery store’s seating area with plenty of free coffee refills and an electrical outlet for the computer.   There are plenty of distractions, but somehow they are usually easier to overcome than the distractions of my own home.

Wes and I regularly steal away into the far corner spot with large windows.  We were both absorbed into our tasks when suddenly a loud thunk struck our window and a fluttering of feathers was seen drifting downward.  A bird had tried to fly straight through the glass into our cafe area.  Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.  We peered down and saw his lifeless body lying on the ground.  I thought that was the end of him, but hours later we looked again and he was gone.

I’m glad he survived and that he was turned into an interesting opening illustration by Wes for our sophomores.  Wes dramatically told the story of this unsuspecting bird and as sympathy for the bird was at its highest, he reiterated that the bird thought he knew that his path was clear and would lead to good things, but instead it brought about death.  He beautifully tied it into Proverbs 14:12:

There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.

Have you had that experience of thinking you were doing the right thing only to have it be revealed that you were dead wrong? Relying on human wisdom is never the right path, even when it appears straightforward and unobstructed.  That was the temptation in the garden:

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:16-17

 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Genesis 3:6

Gaining wisdom seems like such a no brainer.  But with that decision they choose to no longer rely upon God for His wisdom, and instead choose to have and depend upon their own wisdom.  Yet 1 Corinthians 1:9 states:

For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

But there is another choice!  And it was even present in the very beginning in the garden…

 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Genesis 2:9

This tree of life sits in contrast to the tree of knowledge of good and evil!  Adam and Eve passed up life in order to have knowledge. Their choice didn’t bring life, it brought them straight into a glass window.

As believers there is still the temptation to rely upon our wisdom.  I encourage you to agree with God that your wisdom is insufficient and abandon it into His hands. Look to Jesus who is the Life. (John 14:6)  Just like that bird that we thought was dead, you too can experience new Life!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight
Proverbs 3:5-6