More Precious Than Rubies
Proverbs 3 puts a price on wisdom and then says nothing you own compares to it.
Proverbs 3:13-20NIV
Observe the shape of the passage. It begins with a blessing on the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding. Then it makes a comparison: wisdom is more profitable than silver, yields better returns than gold, is more precious than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare. In her right hand is long life, in her left riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant and her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.
Interpret the claim. The writer is using the language of the market because his readers understood the market. He is not saying wealth is bad. He is saying that if you put wisdom and wealth on the same scale, wisdom wins every time, because wisdom is what tells you what wealth is for. Then, in verses 19 and 20, he grounds all of this in creation. By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations. The wisdom offered to you is the same wisdom that built the world. It is not a self-help technique. It is a way of living in line with how things actually are.
Apply it. The tree of life language reaches back to Eden and forward to Revelation. Wisdom is a way back toward the life we were made for.
What are you currently treating as more precious than wisdom? If someone examined your calendar and your spending, what would they conclude you value? And where could you take hold of wisdom this week in a way that costs you something?
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