True riches, true life

“Long life is in her [Wisdom’s] right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.”
-Proverbs 3:16

Sometimes you sort of wish Solomon would make up his mind. He just finished telling us that we should seek wisdom more than money, and now it seems like he is saying to seek wisdom in order to get money.

These are the sorts of verses that the Prosperity Gospel latches on to, and we can see why. It seems to be saying to follow God and you’ll get rich, doesn’t it? That’s pretty much what the Prosperity teachers tell us, that faith will bring God’s blessings, and God’s blessings usually come in the form of cash.

But is that really what’s going on here? If so, we would have to assume that Solomon is a moron, because he seriously did tell us a couple of verses ago that wisdom is better than gold. To make the claim that he is primarily talking about worldly wealth is to claim that Solomon is saying, “Forget about money! Money is for suckers. Get wisdom, because that will get you money!”

If you take the verse more in context you’ll see something else. In the following verses, you’ll find that the gifts of wisdom are spiritual in nature. Peace, eternal life, and blessing.

Does that mean that these two, long days and riches, are also eternal? Not necessarily. After all, it was when Solomon asked God for wisdom that God gave him riches as well. In a very literal sense, Solomon’s quest for wisdom made him rich.

And yet it was not his goal; it was not what he sought. The motive here is very important.

We have mentioned before that the Christian life is conducive to healthy living. Wise and honest business practices will often produce great wealth. Following God, in fact, can lead to worldly blessings. Sometimes they don’t, but sometimes they do. And these are not necessarily bad things. There is nothing wrong with wealth, so long as you keep your focus on God.

And so the gifts of wisdom certainly can be long life and wealth. And they can also, and more wonderfully, be something else.

If you remember from Proverbs chapter 1, this personification of Wisdom found in the Proverbs is a symbol of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus is greater still than a load of cash. Long life? What about forever? Wealth and honor? What about a house built by Jesus and rewards bestowed by God?

Here is wisdom: The things of this world will pass away. they may be useful for a time, and they are not inherently evil, but they are temporary. We, however, are eternal. We should spend this life seeking our provision for forever, not just for these seventy years.

It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom, for once you cast your eyes beyond death, you will begin to understand the importance of answering the question of eternity right now. Will you find favor with God upon death, or will you be judged wanting?

We have all fallen short of His glory. We have all sinned in our ambition, selfishness, lusts, hatred, and pride. We do not deserve a place in His kingdom.

But Jesus came to pay the price that we have earned. We deserve the death penalty, and He took our place there. If we repent and believe in Him, we will be saved. In that wisdom, we will have found long life (eternally) and riches in heaven.

This is what Solomon knew. Money is pretty cool to have, but what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul?