Sagacity

I love a good mystery! Detectives like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Jessica Fletcher, or Columbo, always seem to be able to sift through the evidence and know beyond a shadow of a doubt who is the culprit. They walk into a situation and see things that others don’t. They see through the lies and tricks of the guilty party and solve the murder just in the nick of time!
I confess, I don’t always walk into a situation and judge it correctly. In our day and age, it seems to be getting harder and harder to sift out the truth from the lies. We live in a time of stunt doubles and manipulated photos. We hear things like “experts say”, and are left wondering, “Which experts? Who are they?” Social media allows current events to be shared in real time and dissected on the spot. We hear snippets of stories or skim a headline without investigating the facts before sending it on to our friends. One of my favorite memes states this quote by Abraham Lincoln, “The thing about quotes from the internet is that it’s hard to verify their authenticity.” The obvious punchline being that Abraham Lincoln didn’t have the internet in his day, so he definitely did not say this! It’s a tongue in cheek way of showing that we can’t always believe everything we hear online. Sadly, I myself have even had to backtrack something shared on social media because it turns out the article was three years old, or the facts weren’t verified. But, it’s not just online where judging a situation or someone’s intent incorrectly can be a problem. We’ve all experienced moments where we misread a situation or failed to “read the room.” We all make mistakes.
In a world filled with “fake news” and hot takes on everything, how can we judge correctly? How can we be sure that we are sorting out fact from fiction and coming to the truth? If you are a follower of Christ, I have some good news for you! We have the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us discern and judge correctly. In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples that God will send them the Holy Spirit to “teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we receive the power of the Holy Spirit, so this promise applies to us also.
It stands out to me that John 14:26 says that the Holy Spirit will remind us of everything Jesus has said to us. Well, in order for something to be a reminder, it must be something that has been said. Jesus walked the earth for thirty-three years. Three years of that time, He spent speaking and interacting with people as His ministry. Jesus had a lot to say in those three years and even though we weren’t there, we have His words recorded in the Bible. In many Bibles, the words of Jesus are in red print. They help us know that when we see the red letters, Jesus is speaking. Jesus spoke about many issues that we face in our daily lives. He talked about worry, anxiety, love, and fear. He taught us how to pray and how to love our neighbors. He showed us what God is like and how life works best. The thing is, if we are going to be reminded of His words, we have to first be familiar with what He said. The more familiar you become with God’s Word, the easier time you will have recognizing those reminders from the Holy Spirit. For example, if I am struggling with worry over a situation, the Holy Spirit reminds me of Matthew 6:25-34. I may not have memorized it word for word or even know which book of the Bible to find it, but in my mind I recall Jesus’ words saying not to worry because, if He cares for the birds, He will also care for me since I am even more valuable than they are. Since I have read that passage, and can even picture the cute little birds with shopping carts in the Jesus Storybook Bible, the Holy Spirit can remind me of it and calm my anxious heart in the exact moment that I need it. Similarly, if I am dealing with a neighbor who seems determined to make my life difficult because he doesn’t like me for some reason, I can recall Jesus’ words to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)
So, if I make it a habit to read the Bible and learn Jesus’ words, I will be able to judge correctly how to deal with hard situations. Likewise, when I hear false claims about Jesus and things that He has said, I am able to recognize the inaccuracies. They say that bank tellers are taught to recognize counterfeit money by studying the real thing. The more I study God’s Word and become familiar with it, the easier I will spot falsehoods. I never want to unwittingly go along with a claim about Jesus that sounds nice but isn’t true, and there are lots of those out there! We need sagacity and the help of the Holy Spirit to know how to judge statements and situations correctly.