Acts 7:51: Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.  (KJV)

Steven's words of accusation should be ringing in our ears today.

 

The Holy Spirit was sent to abide in the believer -- to lead the believer into all truth.  But too often we do not want to hear the truth.

 

When the wife says "honey, do these slacks make me look fat?" she doesn't really want to hear the truth. What she wants is an approval of her judgment and decision making.

 

Therein lies the root of sin.

 

That arrogance of the intellect is what got Eve in trouble in the garden in the first place. Remember the first sin?  It was disobedience to the commands of God. And it happened because the serpent tempted Eve to be "as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5 - KJV) 

 

Until we can acknowledge that God's infinite wisdom is far superior to our finite little minds, we'll be in danger of believing ourselves and our own rationalizations, rather than listening to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Growth and knowledge spring from the recognition and admission of our ignorance and limitation. 

 

We are enjoined:

         Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2Tmothy: 2:15 - KJV)

 

Only when we come with a teachable spirit, recognizing that we don't know everything, can we learn.

 

Father-God,  Grant us the grace of a humble and teachable spirit. In Jesus' most precious name.                                      

Amen