Wisdom Better Than Gold
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November 17, 2013 |
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 "For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her" (Proverbs 3:14-15).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
People regard different things as precious. Some desire fame while others consider social power or knowledge valuable. Still others regard wealth the most important. God deems wisdom precious and He says it is better than fine gold. Nothing in this world can bring to us true life or peace. But the value of wisdom will increase immeasurably depending on how much we have gained and how we utilize it.
Wisdom can be generally categorized as two kinds. One is general wisdom that one can gain through experience and studying while the other is heavenly wisdom given by God from above. No matter how wise a person may become, the general wisdom of man can never attain to the wisdom given by God. So, 1 Corinthians 1:25 reads, "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
1. The value of God-given wisdom
Wisdom is utilizing the knowledge acquired. Even if you have an understanding of a situation and are able to see a clear way to achieve something, if you lack wisdom, then the understanding cannot really show its full value. One can gain understanding through the learning process, but wisdom can be acquired only when one has prepared the vessel of the heart to receive it.
Those who have God-given wisdom know how to change the heart of the people around them. They gain the cooperation from the people they need and make things flow like water. But those who are unwise will cause opposition to arise even when they are doing good work. They will have trouble with others and be involved in difficult situations.
Those who are wise will receive love and blessings with just one word, while those who lack wisdom will lose the chance they have and put themselves in difficulty with their words. When comparing the amount of our effort and toil to fruit produced, the fruit will be relatively less if we lack wisdom. But those who are wise please God in various ways so that they can get better results.
They please God with their prayers and they hardly ever miss chances to receive God's grace. Furthermore, they even create their own opportunities to receive God's grace. If we have God-given wisdom we can take the shortcut to receive answers to our prayers, bear fruit and receive blessings.
2. Solomon received blessings through God's wisdom
We cannot talk about wisdom without mentioning Solomon. He succeeded David to the throne and he offered one thousand burnt offerings to God with all his best effort. A burnt offering is made by burning the sacrifice to offer its pleasant aroma up to God. It was the most common method of sacrifice in the Old Testament, and in today's sense, it refers to all the Sunday service including Festivity services like Easter and Thanksgiving Sunday.
Solomon gave the offerings with all his heart so sincerely that God appeared in his dream and said, "Ask what I shall give you" (2 Chronicles 1:7). Solomon did not ask for fame or a life of luxury. He asked for wisdom and knowledge with which he could rule over the people. God was pleased with what he asked and He also gave him honor and material blessings that he had never sought (2 Chronicles 1:11-12).
The wisdom that Solomon received from God was so great that the queen of Sheba heard about it and came to learn more about it. She brought many offerings for him as well. She said, "You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard" (1 Kings 10:7).
The wise judgment of Solomon in 1 Kings Chapter 3 is very famous. One day two women brought a baby before Solomon. Both of them argued that the baby was hers.
They each gave birth to a baby around the same time. One of the women killed her baby by mistake during the night and she exchanged her dead baby with the other woman's baby. In the morning, the other woman found the dead baby with her. These two women finally came to Solomon to settle their claims. Solomon said, "Get me a sword." So people brought a sword before the king. The king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other."
Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son, asking Solomon to give the baby to the other woman so the baby could live. But the other woman was happy with the king's verdict to divide the child. Solomon said the woman who was pleading for the life of the child was the real mother and gave the child to her. He understood the mother's love who loved her child more than her life.
With wisdom, a person can vindicate the innocent, and others will respect him for his wise judgment.
3. The wise woman, Abigail
Abigail, in 1 Samuel chapter 25, turned a life-threatening situation around and received blessings for her wisdom. It was when David was running away from King Saul.
David and his men were hungry and thirsty and they asked Nabal, a rich man in the vicinity, for help. In the past David had protected Nabal's cattle. But Nabal considered David a lowly person when David humbled himself by asking Nabal's help. David was enraged and headed for Nabal's house with 400 of his men to kill him.
The news reached Nabal's wife, Abigail. She hurriedly prepared bread and wine and other foods, put them on a donkey, and set out to meet David. What David's men needed the most and had asked for was food, for they were on the run. So she prepared food in that dire situation.
From this we can learn about Abigail's wisdom. Meeting David, Abigail fell on her face before David lifting him up with her humble attitude. Although what Nabal did was worthy of being put to death, Abigail earnestly and truthfully begged David's forgiveness for her husband. Then, she commended the good points of David to ease his mind. Moreover, she carefully mentioned the point that God was not going to be happy if David killed the people of Nabal's household and shed blood.
David said to her, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand" (1 Samuel 25:32-33). His anger melted away.
After Abigail comforted the heart of David, Nabal was drunk having a party like a king. She did not say anything to her husband until the next morning, and this too was out of her wisdom. She never knew what the drunken man would say if she spoke of what had happened that day. Having such wisdom, Abigail delivered the news to her husband the next morning, only after he was sober. Nabal was so afraid thinking he could be killed that his heart failed within him and he became like a stone. He died ten days later.
Abigail with her wisdom escaped the danger of her and her whole household being killed. In this regard, things can go easily and well with us or trivial things might develop into big troubles, depending on whether or not we are wise. By understanding this, we should long for God-given wisdom that is more precious than gold.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, James 3:17 says, "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." I pray in the name of the Lord that you will possess the wisdom from above and enjoy the blessing as God's children.
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