From Pastor Ben 11/2/23
Trivia:
Here's another brain teaser. Can you guess which classic film ends with, “After all, tomorrow is another day”?
Was it Singing in the Rain, Casablanca, Wizard of Oz, or Gone With the Wind? Make your guess, more tomorrow.
Challenge:
Ecclesiastes 7:12
"For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it."
Solomon leaves us with an open consideration of the value of both wisdom and wealth. He provides us with the limitation of wealth, encouraging us to recognize that wisdom is more valuable than folly. He is focusing us on the fact that wealth is valuable, insofar as it can be enjoyed in the short term, but the best results are from the long-term term benefits of wisdom.
The consideration here is that wealth can ensure someone against physical and financial losses but wisdom provides added protection from moral and spiritual damage. Wisdom is superior; it preserves the lives of its possessors, not just their material fortunes.
The infinite superiority of wisdom is obvious throughout the Bible in many passages, not just this one. We are directed in scripture and reminded that Christ is the wisdom of God and that those who find Him find life. By receiving Him into our lives we move from the finite to the infinite. Colossians 2:3 reminds us that, "In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
The first phrase of our challenge verse in Ecclesiastes brings our attention to the great value of wisdom, "For wisdom is a defense..." Defense literally means “shade” or “shelter,” a physical characteristic which helps us to relate to the one property of wisdom as protection. The next phrase reminds of another human benefit of gaining wisdom, "But the excellence of knowledge ..." The Hebrew word translated here as excellence is often rendered as profit and gain for all that are involved. The encouragement here is to recognize and cling onto godly wisdom and its many benefits that it provides in our life and surround ourselves with godly like-minded people.
SO GO WITH GOD, for our trust and confidence in His ways will always bring a richness as well as a protective power, but at a much deeper level in ours and in others' lives. So gather around those who place importance on gaining wisdom to the benefit of all.
Gone With the Wind