The value of some things isn’t always immediately perceived.
Wisdom and experience tell us that the value of something isn’t determined solely by our appreciation of it. Value is intrinsic, it is a function of the thing itself.
I used to live about 20 miles away from the Reed Gold Mine in North Carolina, the site of the first documented gold find in the United States. In 1799 s farmer’s son found a large yellow rock in the creek that ran through the Reed family farm. It weighed twenty-three pounds. No one thought anything of it, but because of its unique appearance it was used as a doorstop for a few years. A jeweler recognized it as gold, and told the farmer to name his price. Since he didn’t understand the value of gold, Reed thought an entire week’s wages would be quite a sum to get for a rock! So for $3.50 he sold a “rock” worth over $3600.
Today’s verse says:
ARE ANY OF YOU WISE OR SENSIBLE?
THEN SHOW IT BY LIVING RIGHT AND BY BEING HUMBLE AND WISE IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.
Wisdom is like the “yellow rock” Conrad Reed found in the creek. At first glance it may look interesting, or it may not. But either way, it remains what it is — immensely valuable.
The bible tells us that it is much better to get wisdom than gold! Not a little better, mind you; but MUCH better. That’s because the wisdom God gives us can be applied into any of the circumstances we face in life.
Let me repeat something I just said, because I want to make sure you didn’t miss it. I said, “the wisdom God GIVES.” That’s right, He gives it willingly to those who come to Him and ask.
Let’s assume I found out that the Reed Gold Mine was GIVING away 23 pound nuggets of gold this weekend to every person who visited on Saturday? As I write this, gold is selling for about $1900 per ounce. So the 23 pound gold nugget would be worth about $700,00 US dollars. You’d quickly find a way to get yourself to Midland NC, right! If the plane ticket costs a few thousand dollars, you’d find it somewhere. You’d sell whatever you had and do whatever you needed to do to get there. That much money won’t make you a millionaire, but it is significant enough to change your life in a big way!
But would you stop there?
Wouldn’t you tell your husband or wife? You’d want to BRING THEM with you, wouldn’t you? EVERYONE who visits on Saturday gets a 23 pound nugget of gold. You’d do all you could to convince your wife, even if she was skeptical. You wouldn’t want her to miss out. And what about your children? Would you tell them? Of course! If some thought you were crazy when you started talking about free gold, you’d still try to convince them, wouldn’t you? You’d be thinking to yourself, “I’ve only got a few days to let people know about the free gold.” So you’d work at telling your family, your best friends, your neighbors. You’d probably even mention it to strangers, if they’d listen.
ARE ANY OF YOU WISE OR SENSIBLE?
THEN SHOW IT BY LIVING RIGHT AND BY BEING HUMBLE AND WISE IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.
When I’m talking about gold, everything in my illustration makes sense. Wisdom is better than gold!
The one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, are MUCH better off than the one who only finds gold. The gain from wisdom is better than gain from silver, the profit from wisdom is better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with wisdom. Long life is in wisdom’s right hand; in wisdom’s left hand are riches and honor. The ways of wisdom are pleasantness, and all wisdom’s paths are peace.
And here’s the best part … God GIVES wisdom generously to all who ask Him for it. And His offer isn’t limited to Saturday this weekend.
He says He will give you wisdom. And He promised to do so without finding fault. He doesn’t care how badly you’ve messed up your life, or how many times you’ve blown it. He doesn’t care if you’ve been sexually immoral, been unfaithful to your spouse, or practiced homosexuality. It doesn’t matter to Him if you’ve been a thief, a murderer, consumed by greed, or ruled by alcohol or drugs. It makes no difference if you’ve worshiped other “gods”, or mocked Him. When you come to Him and ask for wisdom, the first thing you’ll receive is His love and forgiveness, because loving God is the beginning of wisdom.
But that’s only the beginning. His wisdom is pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Wisdom is better than gold! And He keeps on giving it.
A hundred years after Conrad Reed found his “yellow rock” some local residents were discussing the mine, talking about all of the digging in the area that had taken place. It occurred to them that everyone had USED a now abandoned dirt road in the early years, but that no one had DUG the dirt road. To make a long story short, they discovered one of the largest nuggets ever taken from the mine.
ARE ANY OF YOU WISE OR SENSIBLE?
THEN SHOW IT BY LIVING RIGHT AND BY BEING HUMBLE AND WISE IN EVERYTHING YOU DO.
God’s wisdom is better than gold! Truly. Do whatever you must, but come to God and get wisdom. It will change your life in many significant ways.
Get Wisdom!!! Then show it!! Tell your spouse and your family. Let your friends and neighbors know about God’s love and His offer of free wisdom. Even if they think you’ve gone mad when you talk about free wisdom and love from God, you should still try to convince them.
We’ve only got a few days left to let them know.
