Weekly Snippet: The Greatest Gifts in Life Don't Come with Money

Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.  Ecclesiastes 7:12 NIV

Perhaps when Solomon wrote that "money is a shelter," he was pointing out how nice it is to have enough money that you don't have to worry about paying your bills or buying that little thing that you want.  In fact, I define poverty as not having enough to cover all of our needs.  Today, around the holidays, financial poverty is felt all the more keenly when we want to be more generous than our budgets allow.  But, money isn't everything, and it doesn't do the one thing that we all need--protect our lives.

Wouldn't it be fantastic to be able to buy a Christmas gift that fulfilled someone's every need?  In essence, wouldn't it be wonderful to give the gift of the end of poverty?  We all want something for Christmas, and there are a lot of things that would make us happy, but there are only a few things we need.  The end of poverty is high on that list.

Well, years ago, somebody did buy that gift.  The purchaser's name was Jesus.  He began poor, and stayed poor, but He grew in wisdom, and with that wisdom He obeyed God and purchased the gift of eternal life so that He could give it to anyone who asked for it.

How is that the end of poverty?  Well, we all lacked life, and we didn't have enough of the right thing to ever achieve eternal life.  Therefore, we all live in poverty.  The greatest gift--the most valuable gift--is life, and Jesus taught us a valuable lesson about it. The greatest gift we can receive cannot be purchased with money.  Both the rich and the poor know this.  Eternal life is purchased with wisdom, and knowledge of the God who gives it.  If we don't seek out the God who gives us life and wisdom, we will always be poor.

This Christmas, do you have the greatest gift of all?  I know that none of us are capable of displaying the kind of wisdom it takes to earn this gift.  That's why the richest man in the world, Jesus Christ, had to buy it.   He didn't use silver and gold.  He gave His life.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you by your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  1 Peter 1: 18-19 NIV

 Do you know Him?  If you don't, and you want to know more about this gift, please read my post "To Obey is Better Than Sacrifice," for a more detailed explanation.  If you agree with me, I have written how to receive this priceless gift at the end of this post, "Have They Heard?"

Thank you for reading!  Until next week, this is my reminder to you to stay savvy--seek wisdom!

Serving Before the King

Do you see a man skilled in his work?  He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.--Proverbs 22: 29 NIV

Success in the world these days is not often measured according to skill; rather, it is judged by the amount of money made or the amount of product produced.  You may be the best at what you do, but quite often you will not get the attention you deserve (or crave).  Is there any remedy for this situation?


Well, not always, in this world.  Good marketing and some shameless self-promotion can help, but normally our best efforts never propel us out of obscurity.  Frequently, when they do, our pride over our success takes over and corrupts us (see Proverbs 16:18, 11: 28).  Let me put it this way.  To the untrained eye, it seems that most people, no matter how skilled, only serve before obscure men.


Still, the proverb at the beginning of this post promises something different than what my eyes see.  I don't think it is talking about earthly success or earthly kings.  We who develop the skills God gave us, for His glory, will serve before the King of Kings.  We will never be obscure in His eyes, because He is the one who gives honor to those who serve Him.

I leave you with Jesus' words, which clarify what I'm getting at with this passage:

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:  “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.  If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.  But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.  For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14: 7-11 NIV).

Even if you are in an "obscure position" right now in your life (that means most of us), you are serving before the King.  Your labor has been noted, and He will reward you.  Wait for it!


Until next time, this is me reminding you to stay with God, and stay savvy!

Weekly Snippet: The Peace of Jerusalem

Yesterday was a bit of a scrambled day, and somehow I managed to forget this post.  I'm sure you may be experiencing these same sort of problems right now--students have semester finals, adults have year-end projects, and everyone has the holidays to plan and execute, on top of random life-crises that tend to crop up right about now.  You know, even in the most turbulent times, there is a calm in the middle of the storm for those who know the Lord.  Do you know what I mean?

We live in a world that is constantly clamoring for peace, but just as frequently, going to war.  This situation between people and nations has never changed, not even for Christmas.  I keep hearing Christmas songs like "Grown-up Christmas List," on the radio, and they only serve to remind me how far we are from realizing world peace--not even for a day, or an hour.  Why?  Because we don't understand peace.  We can't even recognize it.