Wisdom is better than gold
 

By Jim Killebrew

[August 20, 2014]  How often have we listened to the advertisements depicting the movie or television star telling us to make an investment in gold or silver. Presumably the economy is going to falter again and we are going to be left with a fist full of worthless paper money. Inflation is going to rob us of the value of our wealth and we are going to go wanting because the bubble has burst again. The only salvation we have is the intelligent, thoughtful investment we make in gold and silver now so we can create an "edge" on our future security. Placing our faith in gold and silver is futile in the long run; a person's treasure consists of more than gold and silver.

God’s Wisdom is the most profitable thing we can encounter. As the world races toward an economy that lifts high the value of gold and wealth, we have an offering from God to partake of the most valuable thing available to us…the Wisdom of God and His saving Grace. There is nothing more valuable than our relationship with Him. To know and understand the moral knowledge that only God can bring is something that exceeds the value of silver and gold. To enter into the relationship with God and experience His Wisdom is to gain experiences that can only come through that relationship.

Solomon, the great King of Israel was given the Wisdom that God wanted him to have. Solomon counted that wisdom the greatest thing he could possibly have. The value that Solomon placed on God’s Wisdom is recorded in part in the Proverbs that King Solomon wrote. In Chapter 3 Solomon wrote about God’s Wisdom using the feminine pronoun:
 

“For her benefit is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than gold.” (Proverbs 3:14)

Relationship with God brings the power of His Spirit into our own experience. We find energy that was never present before. We think we seek the “good life” by attaining more salary, a greater number of “things”, more status, higher recognition, great wealth and celebrity, but it pales by comparison to being in the Spirit of God and experiencing His Wisdom. The gain is salvation, forgiveness, blessed hope and continued joy. That gain of salvation is much more profitable than the riches of this world. Jesus asked us to consider what it will gain for us to acquire the entire world, but lose our own soul. The answer is obvious; without Him we are nothing.

There are benefits to relationship with God that far outweigh any benefit that can be obtained by pursuing wealth without submitting to God’s Wisdom. Once having become the most successful, the most outstanding, obtained all the degrees, wealth and fame, the end of it is buried in a small, ornate box with a few words of inscription on a headstone. Gaining life’s greatest treasures but giving up God’s Wisdom will count the person nothing but a fool.

As we live our lives on a daily basis we live in a society that values material wealth. We spend much of our waking day working to make as much money as we can; we work for others for a salary, or work for ourselves on a margin, but our eyes are always on that break when we can move on up to a better place financially. We are bombarded with ads telling us we would be much better off with that company's products or services, we compare ourselves with those around us believing if we have more than our friend or neighbor then somehow we are "better off" because of it. Yet, when it comes to life, happiness and joy, we witness so many who have much gold and silver yet still live in the shadows of darkness. We suffer from anxiety and depression simply trying to "get ahead" and when we do, we experience more pain, anxiety and depression just trying to keep our gold and silver.
The lifestyle of riches robs us by presenting an illusion of freedom when there is no freedom. Locked in a vault filled with gold and silver possibly cuts us off from relationships and life in a way where love is transferred to materialism that vanishes in value the moment we reach our next level of wealth. In the final analysis all accomplishments plus a lost relationship with God including rejecting His Wisdom will result in nothing.

[By JIM KILLEBREW]