Wealth and Wisdom

-

“Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?
…Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.”

Proverbs 8:1, 10-11

 

Wisdom is a hard sell to our default human nature. When faced with the choice between riches and wisdom, selfish desire rises up within us. Some have even made wealth a spiritual pursuit, even thinking that it is a sign of spirituality. Others will approach wisdom and wealth and say, “Why can’t I have both?” Indeed, there are some who have both wealth and wisdom, but I can guarantee you that it is because they have pursued wisdom over and above wealth.

But for now the choice before us is either or. Faced with the choice of Solomon, whom God told to ask for whatever he wished, would we choose wisdom? In our heart of hearts would we really be ok with leaving a heap of gold on the table and walking away?

How do you know that wisdom really is better? You have to try it out. You have to pursue wisdom with pure intentions, not just to gain something else. Once you try it, you may find out that the choice of Solomon is what you truly want also.

If you have been following along on this 30 days of Proverbs journey with me, I want to encourage you to take a step and invite someone along for the rest of the ride. At the end of the 30 days take some time with your friend and talk about what you have gained. You may just find that your heart desires wisdom more than you realize.

Lord, help me to see spiritual reality as you see it. Let me know how much more valuable wisdom is than wealth and all luxuries. Amen.

 

Devoted to keeping Jesus Christ the main thing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Self-Control

-
“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” Proverbs 25:28   A city which builds walls around it does so to protect itself from its enemies. If the wall is in disrepair or broken down, it leaves itself open to attack. There is no longer any reasonable sense of security. The comparison to a man without self-control follows. He has no reason to believe that he will be protected from his enemies. The interesting twist is that his enemies come from within instead of without. His lack of self-control keeps him unprotected from the evil that is within his heart. The things that Jesus talked about in Mark 7:21-22, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.” When we receive Jesus as the Lord of our life, he begins a work in our hearts which puts a hold on the evil that comes from within. Self-control is a frui
Read more

Train Up A Child

-
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6   When our son was young, we had this verse displayed in his room. The picture that went with it was a train. Although that was a play on words, there is something to be said about how an actual train works that is insightful in our walk with Christ. A train does not deviate from predetermined tracks, unless there is a bad accident. The train is not like a car that can choose its’ own route. In order to go anywhere it must have the two rails to guide it. In the same way our spiritual direction has been pre-determined by the Lord. If we are to go anywhere, spiritually speaking, it must be in line with the Word of God and the Spirit of God. We must have both. The Pharisees had the Word of God, but their hearts were hard. They were not led by God’s Spirit. The Corinthians were led by the Spirit, but the apostle Paul had many words of instruction for them because they were no
Read more

Strongholds

-
“A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.” Proverbs 21:22   A stronghold is in fact something that has a strong hold over us. Strongholds are not easily dislodged otherwise they would be called weak-holds. It takes more than strength of will to bring down a stronghold. It takes wisdom. Wisdom can be defined as “knowing what the greatest goal is in any situation, and what the best way is to achieve it.” (John Piper) When you talk about pulling down a stronghold, courage must also be involved. Knowing that a stronghold must go does not make the act of getting rid of it any easier. It takes hard work and great skill to scale the stronghold, whatever it may be. It would seem that the greater the stronghold, the greater the wisdom is needed to bring it down. Every stronghold is different. Therefore, the solution to each one is different. Wisdom that is effective in one area will not be sufficient for another area. This is one rea
Read more