The Bible tells us, “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it” (Proverbs 8:11). I am privileged to have had several very wise and wonderful friends. I thank God for putting them in my life. They taught me to love wisdom, and that means loving God.

Jesus was once asked by a lawyer what the greatest commandment was. He said there were two: Love God first and foremost and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). The best definition of wisdom is Jesus Christ. The wisest single act on earth is to believe in Him and trust Him as your personal Savior.

After doing that, all one has to worry about is the people he loves who have not or will not trust Christ. But the job of a Christian is simply to get out the Word of God, especially the Gospel. The Holy Spirit is the only One Who can persuade anyone to be saved.

The scary part in all of this is that we have limited opportunity to receive Christ as Lord. It is only while we live on earth. Once we die, our opportunity to be saved dies with us. How tragic when anyone dies without Christ, without believing in Him. For then all he has ahead is eternal physical torment for his poor soul. It is physical because each soul will be joined to a new physical body at resurrection.

My definition of wisdom is trusting Christ as Savior. That takes care of eternity, for then a soul will live on in heaven forever. But there are earthly benefits of wisdom too. The Bible tells us that wisdom is better than pure gold. People, for some reason, love gold. It is beautiful and has intrinsic earthly value. But wisdom makes its possessor happy, while gold cannot. Wisdom provides contentment, joy, and peace. Gold tends to provide the opposite as people with it must worry about losing it to theft. So they must spend money to get a bank to store it for them.

The greatest problem with having gold or any form of wealth is the worry about losing it. For everything is transitory. Many a fortune has been made by men, who neglected God and family, only to die and have their wealth squandered by undeserving descendants or other relatives.

“You can’t take it with you” is a trite but true adage. The billionaires on earth must leave every penny behind one day soon. Without judging, I cringe to think of how God will judge them on that “Great Day.” How will they defend their apathy for the poor? Just think of the relief of human suffering these billionaires could provide. And how could anyone ever need more than one billion dollars anyway?

 If happiness is the goal of the very wealthy, they will always be disappointed. They will always want more materials on earth and no amount of money or “toys” will make them happy. 

Happiness cannot be bought. It comes as a reward of pursuing God’s wisdom.