Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

Devotion based on James 3:13

In 2007, a man named Dan Dewey was sitting next to his elderly father in a hospital in Pontiac, Michigan. His father had leukemia, and every week Dan took him to the hospital to receive chemotherapy. As he sat there, he offered to get his dad a treat—a flavored coffee from a local Starbucks. Before he left, Dan looked around the room at all the other people enduring the same ordeal his father was. He decided to bring each of them a flavored coffee, too.

Dan has been doing it ever since. Every single week. He accepts no money from the patients. He sees his coffee run as a chance to show kindness to someone else.

That true story goes a long way to illustrate what the Bible means when it talks about wisdom. I might think of wisdom as a series of profound sayings coming from a mysterious mystic on top of a mountain. The Lord is much more real. The Lord describes wisdom in terms of how I live my life, by the deeds I do to touch the lives of others.

The Lord’s view of wisdom involves deeds done in…humility. And that’s where Jesus comes in. When I stand at the foot of the cross and understand that it was my sin for which Jesus died. When I realize that my life is full and fresh and forgiven because of what my Savior has done on my behalf—that’s when real wisdom begins. That’s when I see my life as a beautiful chance to thank the Lord for what he has done. That’s when I see my life as a precious string of opportunities to thank my Savior by touching the lives of others.

Maybe someone in your life needs a cup of coffee today. Or perhaps a listening ear or just a kind word. Take a moment to fill that need. That’s what wisdom is.

Prayer: