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Becoming Wealthy In Wisdom

January 6, 2017

Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

CONSIDER THIS

Wisdom is a life of constancy and consistency. It’s not so much in the “advice” one gives as it exudes from the life one lives. A life of wisdom is like a savings account in which a person makes many small deposits over a long period of time.

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!

The “proverbial” ant stores up food in one season so they will have provision in a future season. The ant lives with a kind of quiet discipline, a steadfastness—a life of constancy and consistency. The ant does not work for the short term. She takes the long view and plays the long game.

Getting back to the savings account analogy, as with money, wisdom works like compounding interest. These small, slow, steady deposits add up to far more than the deposits themselves. You know the scenario. A twenty year old invests five dollars a day for eight years. It comes to roughly $2000 a year with a total investment of $16,000. This money stays in the bank for 40+ years earning an average of 10% interest per year. When the student is 65 years old, the amount has grown to a staggering $2.2 million dollars.

The slow, steady investments into our proverbial wisdom account grow in much the same way. In fact, the return is beyond a monetary valuation. It turns out, this investment analogy is spot on. Back in chapter 3 we see this word:

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
    those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
    and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies;
    nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor. Proverbs 3:13-16

Consider Proverbs 23:23: Buy the truth and do not sell it—wisdom, instruction and insight as well.

So what does it mean to “invest” in wisdom? It brings us back to becoming an all-in, all-out seeker after the Word of God, who is Jesus—Wisdom personified. And the great compounder of interest? Yes, the Holy Spirit.

Bringing it full circle, what does a $5 a day investment look like? It looks like constancy and consistency. It looks like meditating on the Word of God every morning. It could look like fasting every Wednesday. (By the way there’s a new launch every week–see below) It looks like banding together with a few other men or women each week to encourage one another and build each other up. It could look like hidden acts of generosity toward others in need.

In short, it looks like the glorious, inglorious work of the ant.

THE PRAYER

Abba Father, thank you for the steadfastness of your constancy and consistency. Thank you for the treasure of your Son, who is Wisdom in person. And thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is my constancy and consistency and every day steadfastness. In Jesus name, Amen.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Why do people not invest in seeking after a life filled with the Wisdom of God?

2. What if I began making a small daily investment into seeking wisdom? Given compounding interest, what might I be like in five years? Ten years? Twenty years?

3. How might we begin a small daily/weekly wisdom investment plan and act on it?

P.S. Today is Seedbed’s fifth birthday. We like to give gifts to our friends on this day each year (which also happens to be the Day of Epiphany). Visit Seedbed.com to learn more.

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J.D. Walt, is a Bond Slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. jd.walt@seedbed.com.

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WHAT IS THIS? Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

Comments and Discussion

2 Responses

  1. Thank you for the lesson. One suggestion, the example of 10% interest from a bank account is not realistic. I suggest revising this to an investment in a mutual fund.

  2. Thanks JD for the depth of today’s study. Question #2 at the end sealed my desire to get the “Seedbed” comments each day. I, too, am a small farmer of less than 8 acres. But I grow a huge amount of food each season. I do not sell any of it but give it away as part of my ministry. We have many retired folks in our neighborhood and they do enjoy seeing me drive up on my tractor with a sack full of fresh veggies in hand. 🙂 Keep up the good work on your end and have a great year ahead planting and harvesting.

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