DAY 266 - Like Money in the Bank

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Ecclesiastes 7:11-14a (NIV) ¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. ¹² Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. ¹³ Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? ¹⁴ When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other.

I Corinthians 1:30 (NIV) ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Security is a legitimate need that all human beings share, and insecurity is a legitimate fear. It is in the way we seek to meet this need and to avoid this fear that we often cause problems for ourselves. The wisdom that gives true and lasting security to our life has been defined as the God-given ability in Jesus Christ to see life with rare objectivity and to handle life with rare stability. That ability is like money in the bank, but indeed it gives our life security that money cannot buy. The gift of wisdom is received in trust that God is true to His word, that He has bestowed this gift upon us. The gift is received in trust and the gift is realized in trust.

That security is not safety from life’s problems and difficulties. There is no protection from that. Rather, it is protection from folly. Both prosperity and adversity bring the temptation to folly. In adversity the folly may be thoughts like I’m no good - the cards are always stacked against me - if only - I’m not going to let this get me down - or a thousand other futile thoughts that ground in our minds during difficult times.

Wisdom gives us rare objectivity to see the truth beyond the dark and discouraging times, and a rare stability to deal in faith with the challenges that come from times of prosperity. Wisdom gives protection from folly in times of adversity, and also protection from folly in times of prosperity when all is going well. With wisdom, no event will derail us from our call to be faithful.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope August 10, 1986

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell