Josef

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity so that He may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His loyal followers. Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and integrity-every good path. – Proverbs 2:6-9 HCSB

Josef was the eldest of three sons of a wealthy industrialist. Josef was always a serious and obedient young man. He studied hard, made good grades and easily graduated from high school. He was never a problem kid. He didn’t smoke, drink, cuss or raise Cain. He hung out with all the right kids and stood when a lady entered the room.

He went on to study medicine and anthropology at a respected university where he earned a doctorate in anthropology. After a suitable internship at yet another university, he also earned a doctorate in medicine.

Josef was a patriot and decided to join the military. He wanted to be just a regular grunt but was unable to make the cut, so he dropped out with a medical chit. However, soon his country was at war and he received a call to join the reserve medical corps.

Josef was not the kind to take a posh job in the back, so he quickly made his way to the very front of the war. He was wounded and pronounced medically unfit for combat. He was promoted to the rank of captain and received numerous medals for his service.

His country was still at war and Josef remained a patriot, so he sought another way to serve. He ended up in the unenviable job of dealing with prisoners of war where he took over for another doctor as the prison physician.

It was during the following 21 months that Josef gained notoriety because Josef was Josef Mengele, the infamous Death Angel. The POW camp at which he served was Auschwitz.

Here, Josef turned the medical training he received into a nightmarish curse. With a simple flick of the wrist, he condemned thousands to death in gas chambers. He personally shot a woman who fought to remain with her daughter. In a fit of rage, he then shot her daughter along with all the remaining prisoners who had just been unloaded from her cattle car.

The purpose of wisdom is to bring about good deeds. The goal of wisdom - perhaps the main goal - is to enable us to discover the means to apply our God-given intelligence, talent and creativity in loving our neighbor as our self.

When a smart person uses these resources to do something God opposes, he not only harms others but is, in a way, making God complicit in his crimes. I assure you, God will not put up with it.

For decades, Josef escaped an international search but one day he had a stroke while swimming and drowned before help could arrive.