There is No Comparison
“Receive My instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” Proverbs 8:10-11
There is an online article that appears from time-to-time which attempts to help people eat the right foods. It is called, “Eat this and not that”. I suppose that we could give a similar title to the book of Proverbs, written by King Solomon”, and call it “Do this and not that”. His writings are part of the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Many of his proverbs tell us what to do to be blessed and what not to do to be, as they say, on the short end of the stick. For example, Proverbs 10:6 tells us that “Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covers the mouth of the wicked”.
In the above verses, Solomon shows us three qualities of the one who has God for their Lord, and man’s idea of what he thinks will make him happy and successful. He first lists God’s instructions as better than silver. God’s instructions can help us in the here and now and in eternity, but silver, perhaps may help us on earth, but it will do us no good in the afterlife, and it may even hinder us in eternity if we are depending on wealth for security. If we follow God’s instruction, we can receive peace and contentment that money can’t provide. To follow and serve God gives us an assurance that He will take care of us. Money is useful to provide for our earthly needs but is also a source of worry that we could lose it.
The knowledge or enlightenment of God gives us spiritual insight that is unknown to the world. Gold is merely a commodity that can do good, but it can also bring corruption and heartache. All the gold in Fort Knox, assuming that it is still there, cannot buy us peace, health, contentment, success, true friends, or heaven. Like the rich man who only lived for himself and his own pleasure but died without the Lord (Luke 16:19-31), is likely still regretting the decisions he made concerning his wealth and his life. There are no “do-overs” in hell.
Wisdom provides what money can’t buy: integrity, a sound mind, self-discipline, and how to properly use knowledge. It also helps us in making the right choices in spending our money. However, money (rubies) can’t buy wisdom or anything of lasting value. Now, we all know that it takes money to be able to live on this earth, especially now with the price of everything going up, up, and up. God knows we need funds to provide for our food, clothing, and shelter. He gave us a brain so that we can learn how to work and make the money that we need, but money is not the goal. We could go back to the subject of food. We are to eat to live, not live to eat. Likewise, we are to work and earn a paycheck to live, not live to make money. Money is fickle. Easy come, easy go. Actually, money is not so easily attained, but it sure can eat a hole in your pocket if you are not careful.
When God blesses us with more money than we need to sustain our homes and families, He does it so that we can help support the cause of Christ here on earth, to help others in need, and sometimes to perhaps allow us a special blessing in the form of a vacation or a new car. No matter how much God allows us to have, it all belongs to Him anyway. He just lets us use these things to bless us. James wrote that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17). Luke 11:11-13 reminds us that when a child asks his father for bread, his father does not give him a stone. If he asks for an egg, his father does not give him a scorpion. Therefore, even we humans who are about as imperfect as anyone can be know how to give good gifts to our children, just think about how much more generous is God who gives us the Holy Spirit when we ask, the Holy Spirit who makes our lives so much better by His leading.