Would you rather have riches or wisdom? The Lord considers wisdom much more precious than wealth, and today’s passage says nothing we desire compares to it (Prov. 3:15). The reason it’s so valuable is because this passage is talking about God’s wisdom, not man’s.
The Lord created wisdom, so the best way to gain it is to know Him—His character, works, ways, and perspective. When we make it the pursuit of our life to know Him through His Word, we’ll discover the blessings that accompany wisdom.
The primary blessing is knowing God more intimately. As we see Him in His Word, we’ll begin to understand His viewpoint and recognize how He’s working in our life. Then our response to life’s circumstances will be aligned with His viewpoint. The Lord sees everything with complete accuracy, and every decision of His is right. He knows exactly what is needed to accomplish His will in our life and to conform us to His Son’s image.
All the other blessings of wisdom flow out of knowing God. Why? Because when our confidence is in the Lord instead of our own understanding, we can walk securely and boldly without stumbling into sin.
To get the most out of this devotion, set aside time to read the scriptures referenced throughout.
The word captive conjures up some very specific imagery. Usually, it includes a person wearing shackles or someone being thrown into a dark prison. But the truth is, we’re all captives to one thing or another. It could be something obvious like drugs or pornography, both of which do great harm and keep us from glorifying God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). However, there are thousands of things, many of them seemingly harmless, that keep us from the true freedom Jesus provides. (See Luke 4:18.)
Perhaps you are captive to praise and suffer whenever you feel overlooked. Or it might be that you crave success and spend too much time striving for wealth or power. Yes, even good things like hard work and relationships can keep us in bondage if we’re not careful. But thankfully, Jesus came to set the captives free—all of us.
Think about it
• Think about places in your life where you aren’t truly free. This will require some time spent in prayer and meditation. (You can also use a journal if it helps.) Figure out where you are being restrained, and ask God to help you shake off those bonds.
Are you quick to hear and respond to God’s Word, or does it seem to go in one ear and out the other? Although messages from the Lord were rare in Eli’s day, the old priest was confronted by a prophet because he was dishonoring the Lord and the priesthood by not rebuking his sons for their evil conduct (1 Samuel 2:27-36).
Despite the prediction of dire consequences, Eli didn’t heed the warning. So the Word of the Lord came to him again through the young boy Samuel. At first Samuel didn’t know who was speaking, but Eli told him to say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam. 3:9).
Whenever we open the Word of God, we should all say the same thing in order to guard against error. The Devil seeks to imitate God’s voice, but the more familiar we are with Scripture, the more easily we can discern the Enemy’s lies.
James 1:22 warns us to be not merely hearers of the Word but doers. Pay attention as you read Scripture, because God is speaking directly to you. Take His admonitions to heart, obey His commands, and draw encouragement and comfort from His promises.
We all want to live life to the fullest, but to do that, we must have goals to aim for. Few of us actually take the time to consider where we’re going. How tragic it would be to finish our life and find out we were on a course other than God’s, fighting the wrong fight and struggling to keep the faith.
The apostle Paul is a good role model for living life to the fullest. His goals were to know Christ, abide in His power, fellowship in His suffering, and preach the gospel (Philippians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 1:17). Paul aligned his aspirations with the Lord’s, diligently worked to fulfill his calling, and persevered through suffering. He could face the end of his life with confidence since he’d “fought the good fight ... finished the course ... [and] kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).
If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting. Don’t settle for the mediocrity of an unplanned life. Set aside some time this week to get alone with the Lord. Then ask for His help in setting goals that will take you where He wants you to go. Consider every area of your life—personal, relational, financial, and vocational—but make spiritual goals your primary emphasis.
Let God help you change direction so you can pursue things that align with His will. Then start living intentionally.
In His grace, God freely gives salvation to those who believe in Jesus. We can’t earn it, nor do we deserve it. However, our Father does notice when we live according to His will, and He promises to reward us according to what we have done for Him.
Revelation 22:12 says, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work deserves.” Whether large or small, service done in Jesus’ name will be blessed. We must be careful, though, that our actions are for Christ’s glory. If motives are self-serving, the only benefit we receive is the praise (if any) that we hear from people in this life.
While we look forward to rewards that will be given in heaven, some blessings can be experienced now. For example, there’s great joy in allowing God to bless others through us. In addition, there’s a profound sense of fulfillment when we lead a person to Jesus and teach him or her how to walk by faith.
Serving others is both a great benefit and a responsibility. We should prayerfully consider our motives to make sure that our goal is to glorify Christ. Only then will we receive God’s full blessings—rewards given not just in eternity but on earth as well.
