...that poor man.

If you read my side bar, you are probably wondering why in the world I have this verse on it:

"There was a little city with a few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man."
Ecclesiastes 9:14-15

The answer is, that it reminds me that my pursuit of knowledge means nothing besides helping me towards wisdom through a greater knowledge of God's character through his creation. Now you're probably wondering if I'm completely nuts. "How in the world did you get that?" You ask.

My history prof brought this verse up in class, prefacing it by saying that it was the shortest, and saddest bible story he knew of. It's complete. It has an introduction...the little city with a few men. It has a conflict...the great king coming to besiege it. It has a hero...the poor wise man. And it has a resolution to the conflict...the poor man saves the city through is wisdom. But then there's the tragedy...no one remembered that poor man. In fact, in the next verse they even go so far to despise him.

So what does this have to do with my college experience? It shows that wisdom, while it can gain great things and do wonders here on the earth, it really carries no weighty, long-term significance. They didn't remember. Maybe they had a huge feast that year, but in the end it doesn't look like they told their children...their grand children probably had no idea that they owed their lives to that then-old, poor man.

I can go out into the world to work for the building of the Kingdom of God. I can save the lives of a hundred, a thousand, or even more people through a great act of wisdom or understanding, but I cannot rely on that. I will only be forgotten.

I must rely on the One who will never forget. The LORD will never forget.