Luke 18:1-8
Persistence in Our Faith
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
I watched 60 minutes this past Sunday and saw Google's CEO do a presentation on Artificial Intelligence...Without doubt knowledge in this world has increased, and especially in the internet area and in programs and in coding of programs on computers...This segment on TV reminded me of a verse in the Book of Daniel...Daniel tells us in the last chapter of Daniel that knowledge in the future would increase...And it is in the section on the End of Times...He said that people will go to and fro and from here and there to increase knowledge...Now he does not say it, I believe in a negative way, but some might take it that way...The Proverbist wrote for us to use wisdom and understanding to establish our homes; let good sense fill the rooms with priceless treasures...Wisdom brings strength, and knowledge gives power...Battles are won by listening to advice and making a lot of plans...
I believe that knowledge does bring power, but knowledge in itself does not bring wisdom...An artificial program with all its knowledge is not wise and does not have wisdom, but does have billions of data points that it is looking at and is gaining much knowledge...But this is not wisdom...Solomon many years ago asked for (not just knowledge) but insight on how to apply the knowledge effectively...God blessed him with riches and wealth and with wisdom...For the LORD gives wisdom...And from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding...The wisdom we need does not rise up from within us but from God...It comes down from our Wise God above as we seek Him out...God offers His wisdom from His Word and to His people...Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold...She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her...Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor...Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace...She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed...And let us remember that there is One greater than Solomon who dwelt among us and is with us...
As I thought about this knowledge growth, praying that as we learn and increase our knowledge that God gives us and blesses us with His Wisdom...And I am reminded of a statement Jesus said when He was talking of the End of Days and His return...When we have more and more knowledge, let us also pray that our faith increases...Because Jesus asks when He returns, will He find faith on the earth...So one might surmise that the relationship with faith and knowledge are not directly related...When I first read this years ago, I was a little struck, but now many years later, I see why He would ask this...This with more context is in the Parable of the Persistent Widow...So I interpret Jesus' teaching as that we need to be very persistent in our faith (just as we are in our seeking of knowledge) and in the Word of God and our belief in Him...Because even though knowledge can bring us power, faith can bring us Eternal Life with our Father and His Son...