Proverbs 8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it
What are your goals this year? One year ago, I read a book about habits called Atomic Habits. It was about how to make good habits and get rid of bad habits. It is largely a function of having the right habits so you can reach your goals. Maybe you have goals for this new year, 2024. Maybe you have new year’s resolutions. That is fine as far as that goes, but what if a year from now in 2025 you realize you’ve reached your goals only to find they are not really what you want? What if you reach some goal, like losing some weight, reading a book, or making some money, and find out it is not really what you wanted? What if you finish those goals, but find they don’t satisfy? What is the ultimate end unto itself?
The ancients have talked about a hierarchy of goals. Some goals we have in order to reach other goals, and some goals we have as an end to themselves. You think about money, health, or power. Are these ends unto themselves or goals we have to help us reach some end, whether it is virtue or pleasure?
Proverbs 8:11 says, “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” Again, wisdom speaks in verse 19 and says, “My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.” It is interesting that many times in the Proverbs, the Bible talks about wisdom being better than some form of financial gain. Why is that comparison made over and again? It is because from the very beginning of time, people associated happiness with wealth even though there are millions of people who are examples to the contrary. Wealth alone cannot bring the happiness we seek. So, wisdom is better than these things that we think we want.
Wisdom is certainly older than wealth. Verse 23 says, “I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” So, wisdom is better than wealth and wisdom is older than wealth. Which comes first? Which is a primary goal and which is a secondary goal? Let me tell you that money, health, and power are certainly helpful and allow you to make decisions you would not otherwise have the ability to make, but even this is not an end to itself. So, which comes first? The answer is that we ought to consider our goals. Consider what our goals are and to what end they are.
Verse 16 says, “By me princes rule, and nobles, and even all the judges of the earth.” What good is having power if you don’t have the good sense to know how to use it? Verse 18 says, “Riches and honour are with me [wisdom]; yea, durable riches and righteousness.” Why durable? It is because a fool cannot use well the money he has even if he has it. So, consider your goals and the purpose of your goals.
Consider the ethic, governing principle, or priority of your goals. Consider the end of your goals. What if you live to be one hundred and you are healthy? What then? What if you live to be a millionaire and then you die? What then? What if you have all kinds of power, and then you die? What then? It is not wrong to have money. That is how you clothe and feed yourself. Health is not wrong, nor is it intrinsically wrong to have the options that power can give you, though power does corrupt. So, what is the purpose, priority, and end of your goals this year?
Most importantly, who is the person? Wisdom is personified in the Proverbs as a wise woman, but ultimately wisdom is embodied in God, specifically in God the Son who lived on this earth. Verse 30 says, “Then I [wisdom] was by him [God], as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.” The only way I have the wisdom of God is to have God, or better yet, for God to have me, to surrender myself to the wisdom that God alone can provide. Verse 34 says, “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.”
Wisdom is found in a person and that wisdom is more important than money, health, or power. It is more important than most of the things we give our minds to at the start of the new year. Every new day is a fresh start to a wise person, so consider your goals and do not leave God out of them.