Walking with the Wise #12: The Blessing & Benefit of Wisdom

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.”

—Proverbs 3:13-18

Wisdom benefits those who decide to use her. Wisdom is often represented as a woman in Proverbs and Solomon (the author of Proverbs) is saying that she benefits all of those who decide to use her services. She is more valuable than silver or gold and more precious than jewelry. For those who use her, they will discover many things —long life, riches, honor, joy, and peace. For those who reject her there is pain, frustration, and heartache.

Many have chosen to pursue a wisdom of their own choosing, rather than the wisdom of God. It may be one of another faith or it may be one of their own making, but whatever supposed wisdom they choose, they all will end up in the same place, experiencing a great deal of pain. God’s wisdom is His way of showing the best way to live. His wisdom helps us know how to live life, choose a mate, raise children, conduct business, interact with others, and whatever else life involves. And though God’s wisdom may not be the flashiest, glamorous, prestigious, or even get the most press, it is the only one that enables us to have success. And it is the only way that leads to joy, peace, honor, and long life.

How are you choosing to live? Does some other type of wisdom direct your life? Perhaps a smorgasbord of other faiths, or simply the wit and ways of others leads your life. Whatever it may be, if it is not in accordance with God’s Word, then it is a wisdom that will end in utter failure and disappointment. God’s wisdom must be that—His wisdom. We cannot combine the so-called wisdom of other faiths with that of Almighty God’s, any more than we can make the moon and the sun one. One will burn up the other. The wisdom we must seek is God’s and His only. Nothing else will do.

Are you living your life according to God’s wisdom as found in His Word? Do you recognize the true value of wisdom over everything else? Remember that every other way, though it may look good now, ends in horrific and tragic failure, but God’s way, though it might be difficult to do in the midst of this sinful fallen world, will enable you to live a blessed life that is pleasing in God’s sight, and a delight to your own soul. Amen.