Knowledge for a new year

"I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know." (Job 42:3)

The contrition of Job is worth considering as another calendar year reaches its denouement. Job, the tragic yet ultimately victorious figure, endures unimaginable calamity and suffering yet lives to see restoration. Job, we read in his eponymous book, does regain his material possessions and more. But he also gains something impossible to measure on a balance sheet.

As Aeschylus put it, by "the awful grace of God," he also attains a drop of wisdom. Having been put through life's wringer, Job emerges chastened; he is able to admit that the realm of God is ultimately beyond his comprehension.

A dose of Job's hard-won humility is welcome as a new year dawns. Especially in regard to the time-honored yet silly practice of New Year's resolutions. Such resolutions rely on willpower, a weak fulcrum that usually collapses in on itself in a matter of weeks, if not days or hours.

Willpower is a reliance on self; the wise man or woman -- through bitter tears -- recognizes over time this is not enough.

We need an external source of help. The support of friends. The succor of family. The intervention of God.

Poignantly, when given an opportunity to ask of God whatever he wished, the new king of united Israel, Solomon, said: "Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people." (2 Chronicles 1:10)

Pleased by this request, God grants this and also gave Solomon what he did not ask for -- wealth and honor. (2 Chronicles 1:12)

Job attained wisdom through surviving being chewed up by life's often merciless gears.

Solomon got the same thing simply by asking for it. How pleased God must be when we ask in prayer for the right things!

If you feel compelled to succumb to the ritual of resolution-making, might I suggest the example of Solomon. (Yes, Solomon eventually went bad; it's true. But it was his own sloth, his decision in mid-life to rely on self, that was to blame.)

If you wish to add more items to your resolution list, why not ask for the fruits of the Spirit to manifest themselves in you? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Long story short: "Seek ye first the kingdom [or reign] of God and all these things will be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) Nothing silly about resolving to rely more on God in 2007.

At the end of his life in 1546, Martin Luther was found with a scrap of paper in his pocket. On it, among other things, were these final words: "We are beggars. That is true." In those two declarative sentences, the wisdom of a lifetime distilled. Happy New Year.

~Jeff Long is pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau. Married with two daughters, he is of Scots and Swedish descent, loves movies, and is a lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.