Treasure

April 7

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways,” James 1:5-8.

Wisdom may not seem like as valuable a gift as does wealth or power. If one were asking God for the best of His bestowals he would be more inclined to request incalculable wealth or absolute power. He would try to persuade the Lord that he could be trusted with such commodities and that he would implement them judiciously.

There is, however, one individual who asked for wisdom in II Chronicles 1:10-12, and that was Solomon. The Holy One had told him that he might request anything that his heart desired and that it would be his. Solomon replied, “Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for how else can I judge them?”

God’s response was, “Since you haven’t asked for wealth or honor, wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches also.” It seems the Lord was telling Solomon that since his desire was that he would rule with justice and fairness, he could be trusted as well with the thing for which he did not ask—riches.

Much historical evidence points to the assertion that King Solomon was 'the richest man who ever lived,' so even if he falls somewhat short of this title, he certainly can be considered to have been greatly blessed of God in the area of financial acumen.

Many of us desire to have great wealth. That is evidenced by the fact that so many participate in ‘get rich schemes’ such as investing in risky ventures or purchasing lottery tickets. Perhaps the reason these often lack the success for which we hoped is because that in doing so we demonstrate a great lack of the wisdom God gave to Solomon.

May He help us to be “content with what we have,” Hebrews 13:5, knowing that avarice in all its forms is part of the enemy’s great deception that would have us preoccupied with the love of money and the pride of life,” for as I John 2:15 tells us, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.”

Life’s distractions are designed to take our focus from the things of God, from the things that are eternal, by weighing us down with temporal desires and concerns. May our loving Savior help us to keep our eyes on Him so nothing of the world can rob us of the true treasure to which we are heirs by the power of the salvation He bought for us.