Standing at my kitchen sink, I heard a commotion in the hallway outside. What’s going on? I wondered. The hallway is the place where people put their trash to be taken away. Over the weekend, a family had moved out so there was a large pile of trash there. The commotion I heard was the cleaning ladies having “discovered” the discarded items. They weren’t upset at the large pile of trash, but rather, they were excited about the items they had found. It was as if they had discovered a great treasure. There was a suitcase with a broken wheel, a handful of old DVD’s, last year’s Christmas candle, and a few empty cardboard boxes.
Why did they want this stuff? It’s worthless, I thought. What are they going to do with it? In many places, the items casually tossed out by most of us westerners are a treasure to others. To them, the value of these items is obvious. They could be repaired and sold, repurposed, or reused. The ladies were probably thinking, “Why would anybody throw this stuff out?”
The differing perspectives made me think of what is truly valuable in this world and what most people are pursuing. Proverbs tells us: “How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.” (Proverbs 16:16 NKJV) Really? Then it seems the whole world is pursuing the wrong thing because, if you look around, cash is king and wisdom seems to be in short supply. Scripture also tells us that riches are “deceitful” 1 and that they “fly away” 2 . It’s true, an unexpected medical bill, a market crash, a bad financial decision or set back may take our material wealth. After it’s gone, then what? What do we have left? Well, if wisdom is better than gold, and understanding is to be chosen rather than silver…What is wisdom? What is understanding? How do we get it? The Bible tells us:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10 NKJV
So, if we don’t have that, we don’t really have anything of value at all. But to know Him is to have eternal wealth that can never be taken by inflation, taxes, or thieves.
I admired the ladies in the hall for their resourcefulness. And, I was a bit ashamed at how wasteful I can be at times. But I don’t ever want to be wasteful of the true riches He has given to us as followers of Jesus –
the treasure of wisdom, knowledge, and the understanding of Him. For by God’s standard, we are rich indeed. In fact, our faith is more precious than gold.3 So, let’s share the wealth with those around us who so clearly, and desperately need Him above all else.
1 Matthew 13:22
2 Proverbs 23:5
3 1 Peter 1:7
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