WEEKLY REFLECTION by Pastor Lap Dinh on ‭‭ ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭8‬:‭10‬ ‭‬

When choosing between material wealth and wisdom, choose the latter. And when choosing between God’s knowledge and money, choose the former. It’s easier said than done. The wise find it easy; the fool finds it hard. Why? The wise fix their eyes on God and ask, “How can I honor God by living wisely (according to His instruction)?” The fool focuses on self and asks, “What can I get out of this choice?” Picture this. You have been working hard and you barely have time to obtain God’s wisdom by reading His Word daily. You keep finding excuses for not growing in a small group. So when you have personal, marriage, or parenting problems, no one knows, and you seek no godly counsel. You are confident in sorting things out on your own or simply enduring your struggles. “Life goes on in suffering anyway,” you think to yourself. Then, the company offers you a promotion. In the midst of this pain, you naturally and gladly accept the offer. Little do you know that it will cost you more of your time. But then you reason with yourself, “Everyone is like that. It’s okay. I have money, and I can buy time later.” And the only “later” you find yourself in is when your kids, now grown, don’t want to believe in or know Jesus intimately or grow spiritually. When you ask them why they don’t make wise choices in life, they tell you that you are no better than them. Why should they love the Lord with all their soul and strength when they never saw it in you? You showed them your choice of wealth and money over God’s instruction and knowledge. Life goes on with more pain and suffering. By now, you either keep praying for them but forget that you need to change first, or you blame the church and pastor for not having good Sunday schools and preaching. So you begin looking elsewhere, hoping the church can bring change to your life without dealing with the “worst enemy”—yourself. Life goes on with more pain and suffering. But by this time, you are already numb. The song you may sing is, “Take me home…” It might not be too late with the Lord, but a lot of damage has been done to your life, with consequences you cannot escape, even if your sins are forgiven. Wisdom is to hear, know, understand, and follow God’s instruction and heed His knowledge in advance before life’s many choices come at you. So let us accept the Lord’s instruction and not money, and knowledge rather than choose wealth. Amen