Advent Devotion for December 17

O Sapientia

O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Reading: Luke 7:24–35

All wisdom belongs to the Lord. Using the most powerful of microscopes, scientists have seen the complexity of cells, DNA proteins, atoms, and even subatomic particles. It seems that the smaller the scope, the systems become more complex, but many in the scientific community deny that creation comes from God. Yet the wisdom of God is on display in the creation and natural ordering of the universe. When we try to manipulate that order, our foolishness results in unintended consequences, which reveal our inadequacy and need for a Savior. How wise, then, must be the one to have created these systems of marvelous complexity?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, whose wisdom is seen from the foundation of the world, we thank You for Your foresight in sending Your Son into the world, that by His sacrifice the sin of the world would be washed away in accordance with Your will; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Hymn LSB 357:2

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who ord’rest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

(Kurt Laskowsky, Sem IV)