BE NOT WISE IN YOUR OWN CONCEITS

The Proverb tell us, ‘Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him’, Prov. 26. 12. The unbeliever has no other resource than his ‘own conceits’ and must seek wisdom there. But, for the believer in Christ, the light of God’s word frees us from the poverty of man’s wisdom without God. What a tragedy therefore when a Christian acts as if he had no wisdom from above but operates only in the realm of the natural man.

God does great things in the ‘weakness of men’ in order that His glory be maintained and our glory kept where it should be, 1 Cor. 1. 26-29. It is the height of wisdom to take our counsel from the word of God and the person of Christ and shun reliance on mere human resources. There is safety for us in this. Our own conceits will deceive us into foolishness. It may even appear ‘spiritual’ on the surface, but if it is not of God it will lead to nothing for eternity, 1 Cor. 3. 12, 13. Or worse, it will lead to definite loss.

Greatness in the things of God and doing great things for God is found in the emptying of self. All the heroes of faith learned this lesson and soared with God afterwards. Think of a man like Moses who saw the power of God in a desert place away from the world of Egypt. Or consider Paul the apostle who saw the power of God displayed in his own human weakness. ‘And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take please in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong’, 2 Cor. 12. 9, 10. In the same epistle Paul wrote, ‘we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us’, 2 Cor. 4. 7.

Paul knew what it was not to be wise in his own conceits and therein lay the secret to his power with God. Seeing our own conceits for what they are and seeing His power for what it is should enable us to obey this Bible command.