“Noah, who was a farmer, was the first man to plant a vineyard. After he drank some of the wine, he became drunk, took off his clothes, and lay naked in his tent.” (Gen 9:20-21GNT)
Why did Noah get drunk on the wine he had made? He got drunk on it because he did not know that too much of wine was capable of getting someone drunk. Truly, he was the one that discovered that wine could be gotten from fruits. And he made that discovery because God’s blessing of fruitfulness was at work in him.
However, it is not enough for us to discover anything, good or bad; it is also important that we possess adequate wisdom to handle our discovery. Otherwise, a discovery that is meant to be a blessing may end up being a curse.
Noah indeed discovered how wine could be made. And that discovery was meant to be a blessing to him. But it ended up exposing him to disgrace because he did not have sufficient wisdom to manage it. Yes, the wine he made must have tasted very sweet in his mouth and also felt quite refreshing in his body. But since he had never tasted or drunk it before, there was no way he would have known how his body would respond to it.
So, he should not have started by consuming a lot of it. That would have been his wisdom. But without knowing how his body would respond to the wine he had just made, Noah kept on consuming it until it he got drunk on it. So, he unknowingly exposed his nakedness and also ended up placing a curse on one of his grandchildren. (Cf. Gen 9:20-25)
What is this teaching us? Well, as I pointed out before, it is teaching us that it is not enough for us to possess the knowledge of anything, good or bad; it is equally important that we possess adequate wisdom to handle that knowledge. Otherwise, our possession of it may after all not do us any significant good. On the contrary, it may even end up harming us.
The discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, for instance, was meant to be a blessing, a very good thing to us as a nation. But has it been a blessing to us? No! Why? It is because, as a people, we do not have the wisdom to manage it. Yes, we know where the crude oil is located in our land. And we also know how to explore it. In fact, we explore and even export it every day. But has this improved our quality of living significantly as a nation? No! Why? Insufficient wisdom to manage it!
Personally, I am of the opinion that if we had not discovered crude oil as early as we had done, things would most likely have been better for us as a nation. At least, the country was doing relatively well before crude oil was discovered. And that was because those leading us at the time had sufficient wisdom to make use of the raw materials, which were mostly agricultural produce, that were available to them to make life better for us. If we had gotten much wiser, then, before discovering crude oil and the kind of money its exploration could make available to us, we may have been able to manage it better in making our nation great.
Well, my point is that it is not enough for you to labour to discover things or to acquire knowledge; it is also important you continually pray to God fill you with the wisdom to handle whatever knowledge you receive. Otherwise, as Paul tells the Corinthians, knowledge without adequate wisdom to handle it may end up making you proud, insensitive and reckless (1Cor 8). And these things are bound to make you stagnant or destroy you. Is that, then, what you want? Do you want that which is meant to be a blessing to become a curse for you? I am sure that is not want you want. So, don’t just seek to know; also seek to be made wise enough to handle whatever you know.
Cheers!
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