by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Pursing Wisdom in Jesus

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.”
Proverbs 13:14 New International Version

We spend much of our lives trying to avoid death, or at least delaying the inevitability of dying. We eat well and exercise in the hope that we will be strong until the day that we die.

In this season of celebration in the Christian community, when we embrace the fact that death has been destroyed in Jesus’ resurrection, we are confronted with the reality of death. There is no need for the promise of life everlasting if death is only a figment of our imagination.

Jesus’ resurrection allows us to admit that the sting of death is real, but greater yet is victory that Christ won for us. It is Jesus, and Jesus alone who can turn us “from the snares of death.”

As we wait for the day of Jesus’ return, we engage with many voices which tell us that they have the path that leads to life, to escaping the snares of death. It gets confusing, doesn’t it? Some of the voices we hear are from people we love and trust, but they are voices that do not lead to life since they are not rooted in Christ our wisdom.

Who is the wise person that brings life? Jesus is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). Jesus is the source of life. To pursue Jesus is to pursue wisdom. To pursue Jesus is to pursue life even in the midst of death and dying.

I thought of my father when I read this proverb. My dad wasn’t perfect, but he was a wise man. His source of wisdom was Christ. He died in 2008, but his voice still rings in my ears. Why? Because the wisdom of Jesus was seen in him. May you find that person in whom you can see Jesus, the wisdom of God, your source of life.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado