Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Everything evil starts with deceit. It is no accident that Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the truth. (John 14:6) Questioning is indeed an excellent technique for getting started, when you want to change someone’s opinion. The serpent was certainly smart, but that’s not the same thing as wise. As Proverbs very wisely proclaims, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) The serpent had intellect, but he didn’t respect God, and he worked to defile what God had created. That can be seen all around us. Just because a person has a high IQ doesn’t mean they are good, or to be trusted. Intelligence is a gift from God, but to have its right use it must be submitted to Him. The biggest problem with intelligence is that it can generate pride, and that is the ultimate snare. As has been said many times, just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should do it. The devil is much more intelligent than any mere human being, so relying on our intellect to resist him is foolish in the extreme. We need to recognize our own limitations and rely on the only One who has no limitations, our Creator God. That’s not at all to say we aren’t to use what God has given us, certainly including intelligence. There are some people who seem to ignore the intelligence they have been given. I had a cousin who had a PhD in biology, and he died from eating raw oysters in August! (I happen to love raw oysters, but I know better than to eat them during their breeding season.) When a person relies on their own intellect, they tend to look down on those with a lesser IQ, and that is ugly indeed. It is only when we recognize and respect the difference between us and God that we understand that focusing on differences in IQ is like acorns comparing height (to quote a Japanese proverb). We need to listen to God and obey Him in everything, including the stewardship of the minds He has given us.

I happen to have been born with a high IQ, and pride has been a snare to me all my life. The irony is extreme, because I didn’t ask to be born this way, much less earn it by my own efforts. The question is one of what I have done with it. Some of it has been good, for which I am grateful, but some of it has certainly not been. Making myself the arbiter of right and wrong, good and bad, is placing myself in the place of God, and that is the ultimate sin. I have got to choose to be humble, because it doesn’t come naturally! That said, I have certainly found that making that choice is the path to satisfaction and fulfillment. I don’t have all the answers, but God does! I am to recognize that God can and does speak to me through people with lower IQ than I have, and respect them fully. If I fail to do that, I am demonstrating the stupidity of intellect!

Father, thank You for this reminder. You remind me of this fairly often! Help me truly walk in all that You have planned for me, in humble gratitude, so that Your plans may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!