The Path Of The Wise
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
Eternity-Inspiration for Thursday 26th November 1997
The Path Of The Wise
(Ecclesiastes 7:7-12 NIV) Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and
a bribe corrupts the heart. {8} The end of a matter is better than its
beginning, and patience is better than pride. {9} Do not be quickly
provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. {10}
Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not
wise to ask such questions. {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:
that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.
The path of the wise is narrow in that avoids many things like
quick anger, bribery and corruption and extortion. Gangsters thus
cannot be wise. They lead lives that have no nourishment in them and
they are quickly destroyed. They create a web that slowly but surely
entraps them. Someone who knows about their corruption "spills the
beans" or in an outburst of anger they do something which irrevocably
destroys them. Many "Mafia" types die young, are murdered by rivals
or betrayed to police. The wise person walks away from evil.
The path of the wise looks forward not backwards. The wise person is
concerned with designing a better world and does not worry overly
about what was or what might have been. The wise person knows that
saying "things are no good now" solves nothing. It is only as we
commence thinking constructively and start designing a future that
we will improve. The wise person is heard saying "Things will be
better if we.."
The path of the wise thinks of the next generation. Wisdom is like
an inheritance. It is passed on down the years from generation to
generation and it is very valuable. The family that values wisdom
and passes it on is far more likely to be successful than a family
that values immediate gratification and instils that in its
children. We see families producing missionaries or pastors for
generation after generation or musicians or academics and
politicians as each kind of wisdom is passed on down the family
line. Families are one of the main sources of wisdom and it is hard
to acquire wisdom if it is not valued at home. One example that
stood out to me was in the area of literacy. The biggest single
cause of illiteracy is growing up without books or reading not being
valued in the home. As Christians we are to acquire godly wisdom
and then carefully instil it in our children. Christian homes should
value good character, ethics, the bible, good books, wisdom and
knowledge and truth. In Townsville (where I live) nearly all the
school captains are born again Christians. Their "inheritance of
wisdom' from their Christian homes has made them outshine their
peers.
The path of the wise is more secure than the path of the wealthy.
Wisdom is a life-saving shelter. Wisdom gives us the ability to make
good judgements and good judgements can literally save our lives.
Money can be a shelter or refuge but money has the disadvantage of
making us envied and vulnerable. Money gives us no moral qualities
and riches do not improve one's ability to make good choices which
is why so many lottery winners are poor again within 2-5 years.
Wisdom however gives a lasting life-saving advantage and will keep
saving us from trouble even when our finances have hit rock bottom.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we may
know true wisdom from God and walk in the path of the wise forever.
For Your glory and our safety. Amen.
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
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