He Wasn’t Smart Enough
Last month, our cat Bosco was killed by an automobile on Highway 8 in front of our house. We had Bosco for 4 ½ years, and are thankful for the time we had him. He enriched our lives and was a wonderful companion. Living on a busy road, I expected that one of our cats would end up being killed, but I didn’t think it would be Bosco. Just a few days before he died, I was bragging on what a smart cat he was, because he looked both ways before he crossed the street. (I saw him do this one time.) In the end, Bosco was not smart enough to avoid death.
The culture in which we live prides itself on intelligence. This manifests itself in an almost god-like status we assign to higher education, government, and post-secondary education. We live in a meritocracy where those who can achieve through their intelligence are rewarded whereas those who cannot scrape by. We’ve forgotten the biblical admonition, “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Knowledge makes us proud; intelligence breeds arrogance; being smart creates haughtiness. Death, however, is the great humiliator; all are equal in the casket. Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26). Human intelligence cannot prevent death; we’re not smart enough, and never will be (Hebrews 9:27). The imperative, then, is to live for Jesus hoping in Him to save us.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley