Spiritual Discernment

In doing some research for a class that I teach on OT wisdom literature, I came across a just released book by blogger, Tim Challies, titled: Spiritual Discernment. It is a comprehensive study of the topic of biblical discernment. You can preview and order the book through links on his blog.

On the blog, Challies states that Proverbs is his “home page” of the Bible. His fascination with wisdom and discernment led to his writing this book. I read the first chapter it and looks very interesting. In addition, he also has several blog posts about wisdom and discernment. I have copied and pasted the conclusion of one of them below - they are wise words and worth our consideration.

You can go directly to full the article through this link:
http://www.challies.com/archives/discernment/straying-from-the-words-of-knowledge.php

"Wisdom and discernment, then, are character traits that, like the moon, can wax and wane. They are gifts of God, but gifts that we can throw away. They are gifts that need to be nurtured and maintained. We cannot take them for granted, taking refuge in the fact that we may be wise and discerning right now. We need to continue to strive after them and to seek them. We need to learn from Solomon that even the wisest man today may be the greatest fool tomorrow. We depend on grace, even to sustain our wisdom and discernment.

If Solomon could stray so far from the Lord, I know that I can too. This is a sobering thought. This is a terrifying thought, even. But the solution to avoiding the folly of Solomon is clear. I need to take care that I never cease to hear instruction. I must live with an intense focus on God’s Word, never believing that I have learned enough, never believing that I’ve arrived. I must know that from this day to the day I die, I need to maintain a humble dependence on God. I must trust that His words of instruction will continue to edify and strengthen me, protecting me from straying from the words of knowledge. I will never outgrow my need for His sustaining grace."