Day 18 – Wisdom Gives Life

What is our ultimate goal in becoming prosperous?  That is a good question to ask ourselves while we are going through the discipline of pressing into a better understanding of prosperity.

As we have discussed, prosperity covers an immense scope of possibilities.  God desires for us to be prosperous in ALL things, but He also will not let us forget that He is the reason we have everything we have gained.  We have to be diligent in our pursuit of Him in ALL that we do to see the prosperity that He gives us continue to be poured out.Solomon was not only one of the wealthiest men to ever live, but he was also the wisest man living in his time.  He was prosperous in everything that he did because of the wisdom that the Lord gave him.  However, he eventually got so blinded by wealth, women, false gods, and plenty of other things, that he started to turn his back on God.  Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 says, “Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and profitable to those who see the sun.  For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.” 

Solomon had everything (and a lot more) that anyone could ever desire.  Money, fame, fortune – almost anything imaginable.  However, he finally realized in his old age that those things weren’t as important as a life spent loving and honoring the Lord.  I love the passage, “But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives LIFE to those who have it.”  That’s a pretty profound statement coming from someone that had everything!  Yes, God desires for us to be prosperous and for us to be wealthy and for us to have a happy family, but He doesn’t want us to get so caught up in those things that we forget about Him.  He is the reason we have all that we do, and He deserves the credit for anything we accomplish, whether we see it that way or not.

Ask God to give you the knowledge so that you can gain the wisdom that will give you life!  God desires us, not only to live full lives, but to live prosperous lives.  He longs for us to understand His wisdom that will bring us into the full prosperity that He desires for our life!