Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 391 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Wealth Is a Crown for the Wise - Proverbs 14:18-35

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 391 of our trek, and today is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the second half of Chapter 14.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. After some meetings with our clients in Marietta on Tuesday, we are heading back to Charlotte today for a week. It will be good to take a break from the renovation work we have been completing on The Big House. We will return to Marietta next Wednesday to work with our clients here and for our granddaughter Aurora’s 5th birthday celebration.

We are blessed that our work is somewhat location independent. Maintaining two homes was never something I would have imagined doing, but we do feel that is God’s plan for us in this season of our life. While we fully realize and understand there are no guarantees in life, real estate is usually a wise investment long term, so our hope is that it will remain to be so for many more years.

Making wise decisions to the best of our ability is important in life, and there is no better source for wisdom than God’s Word and in particular the book of Proverbs. As we head out on our trek for today, let’s dig for those nuggets of wisdom that fill the book of Proverbs. Today we will dig into the second half of Chapter 14. Today’s trek is…

Wealth Is a Crown for the Wise

18 Simpletons are clothed with foolishness,

but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

Many times you can tell something about a person by the way they dress. In this verse, we can tell if a person is simple because they clothe themselves in foolishness. You may remember from past studies in Proverbs that a simple person is one who has the capacity to be wise but has not obtained it either through ignorance or choice. The default attire for this person is being foolish. A person who is truly a fool is someone who knows what wisdom is and how to obtain it but has deliberately chosen to ignore wisdom. In contrast to a simpleton, a prudent person can also be known by his attire. He will have wisdom, knowledge, and discernment that will be as evident and obvious as if he was wearing a crown.

 

19 Evil people will bow before good people;

the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly.

A person who chooses to ignore God’s precepts will eventually be subservient to people who have chosen to follow God’s precepts. The evil or wicked person will continue on the wrong trails of life. When they are in trouble because of their unwise decisions, they will have to bow before those who are in the positions of authority for assistance.

 

20 The poor are despised even by their neighbors,

while the rich have many “friends.”

An unfortunate fact of life is that most people will be friends with someone who can provide benefit to them. The poor person usually has little to offer, so most people will not like them or get to know them, even if they are close neighbors. A person who does have wealth will have many fair weathered friends who are looking to benefit themselves.  These types of people will never be true friends.

 

21 It is a sin to belittle one’s neighbor;

blessed are those who help the poor.

As an extension of the previous verse, we see how God would want us to act. This is one of His basic precepts that we should follow.