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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 'For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?' 'Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?' For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11.33-36).
Who has known the mind of he Lord? What human has had perfect understanding of God's ways, thoughts, and wisdom? What limited man can fathom the limitless depths of the Lord's capacities? To ask the question is to answer it! Rhetoric speaks such things, but all who hear know the answer! God and God alone has the mental prowess needed to make and sustain the earth and the universe of which it is a tiny part. Nebuchadnezzar was thinking clearly when he said, “His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?'” (Daniel 4.34-35).
Who has become the Lord's Counselor? To whom has the Lord turned for advice or for wisdom? Has there ever been a time when He needed someone to guide Him toward a more perfect plan, or into a better position, or toward a better thought out response? Again only rhetoric asks such questions. Like Job of old we realize that there are things that are simply too marvelous for our eyes and ears to see or hear. While we are finite, God is infinite, boundless, and as far above us and our ways as the heavens are above the earth!
Who has given first to God? Who was present when He first blessed mankind with the breath of life and granted to him access to the riches of the earth? Who helped in those first few hours to see that God gave out the individual abilities as He should and to see that they were fairly distributed? Once again, the answer resounds before the question can even disturb the air! God is the ultimate giver; He gives even life and breath to all of humanity; without Him and His gracious and giving heart, man would never have existed, and if he had, He would have long since been wiped out due to ingratitude, rebellion, and ignorance! God gave first, He gave more, He gives longer, and He gives more appropriately. God is the ultimate giver!
The answers are obvious to each of Paul's questions! No one has been the Lord's counselor. No one has known His mind. No one gave first to Him. He is and was the source of all things. Because of these fundamental truths about Him, all believers should say with Paul, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”It does not take a smart man to learn that God is greater than all the wisdom of the ages. It does not take a smart man to know that His ways are above our ways and that His thoughts area bove our thoughts. It does not take a smart person to understand that we can't understand without the insight into life and love that God grants freely to mankind!
Extraordinary intelligence is not the key to serving God; rather, it is submissiveness! Submit and He will find a way to make Himself strong on your behalf. Resist and He will resist you. Draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh unto you! All things are of, through, and by Him!
Questions:
1. What are rhetorical questions? What are the three rhetorical questions in today's text from Romans 11?
2. How can man know God's mind? How can man know God's mind perfectly?
3. Why is superior intelligence not the way to God's heart?
4. Why is submission required of mankind?
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