Proverbs 8:18-21: Wisdom's Fort Knox

Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries. Proverbs 8:18-21

Riches: far richer

Honor: splendor, glory, of external condition and circumstances

With: in one's possession or keeping, in his power

Enduring: valuable, advanced, eminent, surpassing

Riches: wealth, sufficiency

Righteousness: prosperity

Fruit: figurative of fruit of actions, i.e. their consequences

Revenue: income, what is produced

Traverse: walk steadfastly, unswervingly

Way: mode of action

Righteousness: as ethically right

Paths: moral action, and character

Justice: pronounce sentence (for or against); to vindicate or punish

Inherit: give as a possession

Fill: be full of, have wholly

Treasuries: a depository, armory, storehouse

Fort Knox Bullion Depository

Have you ever read some of the facts about the Fort Knox Vault? The vault door weighs more than 20 tons! Wow! Since Fort Knox is filled with gold, it has very high levels of security in place. 

Once again Proverbs explains that wisdom is far more valuable than the finest and purest gold. As of 5:47 am ET on Nov 3, 3015 the value for ONE OUNCE of 24K ranges from $1129.5 - $1138.8. That is just ONE OUNCE of pure gold. 

Think of the value of gold in Fort Knox. Then try to comprehend the value of wisdom, which is even greater. It's incomprehensible. Yet, even with the value of wisdom and how easily we can get wisdom, we still continue to ignore it. 

We have the "ultimate Fort Knox of Knowledge" at our disposal. We have the combination to the vault. It's available to us 24/7. But sadly, we'd rather search elsewhere and be content in our foolishness. 

If someone gave us access to Fort Knox and said, "Help yourself. Don't worry about taking it all, because we'll refill it. It will never be empty." Once someone picked us up off the floor, from fainting, we'd be in awe. But that is EXACTLY what WISDOM says. And instead of being in awe and enjoying all the wisdom wants to give us, we simply say, "No, thanks. I'll do it on my own." And we leave Wisdom's Fort Knox empty handed. 

I WANT access to Wisdom's Fort Knox! So, the first thing I must do, is make sure that my heart is permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God (Acts 9:31 MSG). For that is the combination to gain access to the vault. 

Wisdom's Fort Knox is available. Will you put it to good use? Or ignore it? 

Do I really value God’s Word?

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 19. Here is what I learned.

The Word of the Lord is worth more than gold, even more than much fine gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey straight from the comb. Psalm 19:10 (NLV)

They are ·worth [desired; coveted] more than gold, even ·the purest [fine] gold. They are sweeter than honey, even the ·finest honey [droppings of the honeycomb]. Psalm 19:10 (EXB)

Desired: greatly beloved, covet, delectable thing, great delight, desire, lust, precious (thing).

Gold: gold as wealth.

Fine Gold: refined, pure gold.

Much: in abundance, enough, exceedingly, full, greatly.

Sweeter: sweet, sweetness.

Honey: honey, made by bees.

Dripping: flowing honey, honey from the comb, the purest honey. 

Honeycomb: the bees natural storage for the honey.

God’s Word. Do I value it? Do I give it the respect it deserves? 

If I do value God’s Word, then there should be a desire.... an overwhelming desire... to hear what God has to say. Then that desire would translate what I read into action. 

Wealth: abundance, affluence, assets, belongings, bounty, capital, cash, commodities, cornucopia, dough, estate, fortune, funds, gold, goods, holdings, lap of luxury, long green, lucre, luxuriance, luxury, plenitude, plenty, possessions, profusion, property, prosperity, prosperousness, revenue, riches, richness, security, stocks and bonds, substantiality, treasure, worth.

Gold, the purest gold. Far better than the purest gold. Highly valued. 

How do I know if I really value God’s Word?

First, do I take time to read it? Am I satisfied with 10 minutes of reading a few verses? How much time do I spend doing other things that have no real value... like watching TV? How often do I rearrange my schedule so that I can watch a certain TV show? And then consider the morals that show taught. So many of the TV shows on today, are filled with examples of sin—yet, I sit and watch them for hours.  I’d say , if I have time to watch (and fill my mind with ‘trash’) than I have time to study God’s Word. So, the question remains.. “Do I really value God’s Word?” 

Secondly, do I obey God’s Word? If I value something, I cherish it. Reading God’s Word is a great place to begin, but if I really value God’s Word, I’ll want to make it part of my life and allow it to change me into the person God wants me to be. 

And lastly, do I share God’s Word with others? Remember those TV shows that I rearrange my schedule to watch? I talk about those with others... and they have no eternal value. If really think that God’s Word is worth more than pure gold, shouldn't I want to share my “riches’ with others? 

The only true way to create a positive day is to make sure that I really value the richness of God’s Word.