Smart

Gen 8:9b "Do not interpretations belong to God?"

Joseph's place of service now was prison. He did all that he could with the wisdom God gave him to be successful in that place…and here came his opportunity. Two guys had offended Pharaoh, the butler and the baker. Who knows what they did. Maybe the butler did not shine Pharaoh's sandals properly and the baker gave him a crummy meal. Whatever it was, here they were in prison with Joseph. While they were in prison they had separate dreams. Apparently, dreams and interpretation of dreams was pretty common knowledge back then, so they went to Joseph and told him about these dreams. Now here is the cool thing: Joseph did not rely on himself. He did not think that he could bring about a proper interpretation. Instead he pointed to the One that he had relied upon the entire time he was in Egypt…and even though he was stuck in prison, his dependence was still on this One…God. When these guys, who were probably steeped in the worship of all kinds of gods: Ra, the god of the sun; Hathor, the god of music; Nut, the god of the sky; Geb, the god of the earth…and many others, Joseph declared to them the One true God, the only One who could give wisdom, the only One who could give knowledge, the only One who could give a true interpretation. This was a God these guys were unfamiliar with, yet Joseph declared to them.

I love the fact that God is smart. I mean, He created it all. He knows how everything works. This world and all that is in it, our bodies, our minds, our universe. He created chemistry. He created physics. He created biology. He created math. He created language. He created and is directing history. He created law that makes sense in life. He made it all. He knows it all. And He wants to reveal it to us. This is wild. Only God can truly teach us. Only God can take a dream and give its proper interpretation. Only God can reveal truth to us because He is the source of all truth. For us to think that we can figure it out on our own is pompous. If we know anything, it is because God has chosen to reveal it to us.

I love these 2:3 verses: I Sam 2:3 :"Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD [is] the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed." We get so stuck on how smart we are, how we can figure things out and we forget that this is just pride. The LORD is the God of knowledge. Then this 2:3 verse: Col 2:3: (Speaking of God the Father and Christ from verse 2) "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus. And the wild thing is, He wants to teach us. He wants to share this with us. He wants us to know what He knows.

I wrote something a long time ago that has recently come back to me. I wrote: "The God who created everything, who knows everything, who understands everything want to teach me. He wants to share what he knows with me." Wild stuff…and I get so lazy. I don't avail myself to all that God has. I sit back and don't read His word. I fail to talk to Him. I take in garbage instead of truth. I need to wake up, pay attention, soak it in, learn from Him because only interpretations, only knowledge, only truth belong to God.