What will you inherit?

“The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.”
-Proverbs 3:35

Today I’ve been thinking a little about what the world puts up as wisdom. And, honestly, the line of thoughts on this subject makes me very sad. I see people in the grocery store looking at the magazines, trying to find the sage advice that will fix their lives. I see people flocking to Oprah and Dr. Phil, hoping they will say something that will mend the mistakes. We turn to politicians, the great wise leaders of this age, for ideas to fix the problems other politicians created. And then we reelect those politicians when they only make things worse. We ask celebrities their opinions on everything, hoping some manner of wisdom will be gleaned. We turn to horoscopes and fortune cookies. We all bought into the great lie that we need to live for our own pleasure, our own greed, and then we desperately search for wisdom to fill us up when money and sex do not.

Those who come forward as “the wise” very rarely are. They spout axioms and encourage more greed and selfishness. Concentrate on yourselves, they say. Somehow, a change in job or spouse will solve everything.

In religion, the great thinkers tell us everyone is okay, that surely we’re just fine in God’s eyes, which may be the silliest statement of them all. And yet when someone points out that we’re not okay, and that we probably should start looking to God and living for Him, he is mocked as intolerant and narrow-minded.

Scientists are absolutely sure there is no God. Which is quite a bold statement, considering that we’ve only experienced a short sliver of time compared to the history of time, and that we’ve only seen a tiny slice of earth, which is a tiny slice of the Solar System, which is a tiny slice of the galaxy. Quite a bold statement to say that we can know for a fact that there is no God when we are not omniscient to know that for sure. (And if we were, we would be God.)

Wisdom in God’s eyes is not like wisdom in the world’s eyes. They can sometimes be as different as night and day, which is why Paul wrote of others, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22). Sometimes, the most amazing statements the world can offer (such as, “There is no God”) collapse under the weight of God’s understanding.

Is it wise to ignore the counsel of the truly wise? Obviously, it is not. So when the author of wisdom, God Himself, speaks to us, the wise will be silent and listen. That’s another part of wisdom the world does not understand – silence. The wise of the world tend to speak much more than listen.

The spiritually wise seek the ways of God, for those ways are unfailing, straight, and true. They lead to life.

It is Jesus who shows us this way. He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Who that is wise does not seek these things? Who does not want the way? Who that is wise does not seek truth? What about life?

The spiritually wise seek Christ. When I was lost, I thought myself wise. I thought so highly of myself. But it was when I submitted in humility to Him who is truth that I learned how foolish I had actually been.

When I follow Him, I am astounded at what I learned. When I repent when He tells me I should, I always find that He was right all along. When I obey, I find life in every step, and I will for eternity.

The wise will seek for themselves to see if these claims are true. Only the foolish will dismiss them. The fools may have the world, but that is all they will inherit. The wise will inherit life.