Praise the Lord! God is good and He is faithful in all He says and does! Despite us being indifferent and disobedient towards God, He remains faithful to us as He cannot disown Himself according to the Scripture: If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself (2 Timothy 2:13). It is evident from God’s approach towards His creation that He is faithful towards them all including the humankind who were created in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). We need to understand that God neither failed us nor forsaken us as we often doubt about His faithfulness towards us. He is, in fact, working in us to make us a better person of His son and daughter; also, He is working through us to make the world a better place to live in.

The Lord has given us an imperative and thoughtful Scripture passage (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 / mentioned above) for our SftW meditation this week, which is taken from the writings of king Solomon who is known as the wisest person ever lived on earth according to God’s promise to him:  Behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you (1 Kings 3:12; also refer to 4:29-31; 10:23; Proverbs 2:6; Ecclesiastes 1:16; Matthew 7:7-8). The passage urges its readers to obtain wisdom over everything else a person can obtain in this world, including inheriting wealth/money. In this passage (7:11-12), we can observe a direct comparison between wisdom and money/wealth because both wisdom and money have important roles to play to have a productive life. According king Solomon, obtaining wisdom and/or money is a good thing as each of them benefit those who have them as it become a shelter to shield when crises arise in life. Yet, if there is a choice to make between money and wisdom, it will be better for a person to choose wisdom over money/wealth because wisdom can do better in the absence of wealth than wealth could do in the absence of wisdom. Like the book of Ecclesiastes, the book of Proverbs also gives much importance to getting wisdom as it teaches that it is more precious to get wisdom than silver or gold or honor or anything as such the world can offer a person because wisdom teaches a person to fear the Lord and how to live a righteous life, which would enable us to receive an imperishable inheritance in heaven, as it is mentioned: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4). Proverbs 4:7 states: … Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

Money can be earned or inherited from others but wisdom cannot be inherited from others rather one has to learn by themselves through acquiring knowledge by study and life-experiences. From a human point of view, the gift of wisdom could be achieved through a combination of having thorough knowledge [knowing about things by gathering information through education or life-experiences] and understanding [the ability to analyze and know about things more than just knowing about things by gathering the facts and figures about those thing] and experience [knowing about things through practical understanding] and expertness [having thorough knowledge about things] and good judgement about the things we know and experience in life and the ability to execute all that one knows at the right time at the right place for a common good. This means, wisdom is not just having knowledge or understanding or experience or expertness or good judgement or anything as such but it is the outcome of all of them combined together. Having [extra] money/wealth is not a bad thing but having extra money/wealth without wisdom is not a good thing. Solomon wrote: Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it (Ecclesiastes 7:12). This could be one of the reasons James, the brother of Jesus, urged the believers to ask God for wisdom if they lack it: If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you (James 1:5).

As the faithful followers of Christ our Lord, let us get wisdom more than anything else in this life and ask the Lord our God to give us wisdom to know and understand all about God and all that He has done for us, such as:

• • The wisdom to know that God exists (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 90:2; John 1:1-2)
  • The wisdom to know that God is Sovereign over everything and everyone (Isiah 46:9a, 10b; Psalm 135:6)
  • The wisdom to know that God is the Creator of the entire universe including the heavens [we see above us] and the earth [we stand or sit or lie down or walk or run] below us and everything in them – living or nonliving including human beings – the crown of God’s creation (Genesis 1:1-2:3; Psalm 19:1)
  • The wisdom to know that we are created by God in His likeness and image (Genesis 1:26-27)
  • The wisdom to know that God loves and cares for us (John 3:16)
  • The wisdom to know that we disobeyed God’s commands and sinned against Him (Genesis 3:11; Psalm 51:4)
  • The wisdom to know that we all have become sinners (Romans 3:10, 23)
  • The wisdom to know that our sin has separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2; Ephesians 2:12)
  • The wisdom to know that God is willing to forgive our sins (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:13b; 1 John 1:9)
  • The wisdom to know that God comes out in search of us and continues to look for stray souls until we are found by Him (Genesis 3:8; Ezekiel 34:11; Luke 15:4-6, 8-9, 17-20; 19:10)
  • The wisdom to know that God sent His servants time and time again to guide and lead us in the right path (Job 33:14-15; Jeremiah 7:25; 25:4; Hebrews 1:1)
  • The wisdom to know that God sent His only begotten son [perhaps, as the last option to save the humanity from the grasp of sin and death] to search and find and save the strayed souls (Matthew 9:12; Mark 2:27; Luke 5:31; John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9)
  • The wisdom to believe that Jesus is able to redeem those destined to die and save them for Himself (Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 3:13; 4:4-5)
  • The wisdom to believe that Jesus came to give life [abundant life] here on earth and eternal life in the age to come (John 10:10, 28; Romans 6:23)
  • The wisdom to believe that Jesus bore our sins/iniquities on Himself (Isaiah 53:5a; 1 Peter 2:25)
  • The wisdom to believe that Jesus suffered and died to reconcile us to God and, thus, bring us peace (Isaiah 53:5b; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
  • The wisdom to believe that we are healed by His wounds (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24)
  • The wisdom to believe that we are justified before God through Jesus’ suffering and atoning death on the cross (Romans 4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18)
  • The wisdom to believe that Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he was raised on the third day (Acts 2:24; Romans 5:8; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 John 2:2)
  • The wisdom to believe that when Jesus finished doing all that He came to do, He ascended to heaven, and seated at the right hand of God interceding for us (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 7:25)
  • The wisdom to know that Christ will return to take us to be with Him where He is (John 14:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
  • The wisdom to believe that we who live a righteous life [a life that reflects Christ’s kind of life in and through us and a life according to His righteous laws and decrees and commands given to us] will live with Him in eternity for ever and ever (Exodus 15:18; Psalm 10:16; 45:6; 146:10; John 6:47; 10:28; John 6:47; 1 John 2:17; Revelation 11:15; 21:3-4)
  • And, so on!

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, in the light of all that we have discussed here, let us strive to get wisdom and knowledge and understanding that comes from above more than trying hard to get riches and honor and worldly possessions and accomplishments. Though we need to have wealth and honor and worldly possessions to manage our life on earth, we need to know the fact that without the wisdom from above all our hard work will end up in vain. However, if we follow the Lord our God faithfully, and live a righteous life, and get wisdom and knowledge and understanding that comes from above, it will help us to get riches and honor and worldly possessions that is needed for us to live a godly life here on earth. The advantage of obtaining godly wisdom is that it preserves the life of those who have it (Ecclesiastes 7:12). One of the Old Testament saints named Job said: To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his (Job 12:13). Therefore, let us try to know the Lord our God more than ever before and listen to Him carefully for all that He has to say to us for our spiritual well-being, as Apostle John wrote: We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!