The Principal Thing
Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, because God gave him more wisdom and understanding than anyone else. That was a great blessing. Wisdom only comes from God. It is seeing things as He does. Once Solomon experienced that wisdom, he realized that it was "the principal thing."(Proverbs 4:7) He did not mean that it was better than salvation. He meant that in order to live well, the main thing we need is God's wisdom. Of course, if we follow God's wisdom, we will trust Christ as Lord and Savior. However, living by wisdom helps us in everything that we do. That is why it is the principal thing.
Solomon knew this about wisdom, but he missed the principal thing. He listened to his pagan wives, and he let pride get the best of him, so that he stopped living by God's wisdom. He settled for man's wisdom, which is not wisdom at all. That led to the downfall of his life, and also, the division Israel into two countries. That shows all of us the results of missing the principal thing.
I would ask all of us to examine ourselves in this area. Do we know God's wisdom? Have we learned it from His Word and from knowing Christ? If that is the case, are we living by it? If we miss wisdom and understanding, the same kind of things will happen to us that happened to Solomon. We must not let anything cause us to miss the principal thing.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 6-8.
Solomon knew this about wisdom, but he missed the principal thing. He listened to his pagan wives, and he let pride get the best of him, so that he stopped living by God's wisdom. He settled for man's wisdom, which is not wisdom at all. That led to the downfall of his life, and also, the division Israel into two countries. That shows all of us the results of missing the principal thing.
I would ask all of us to examine ourselves in this area. Do we know God's wisdom? Have we learned it from His Word and from knowing Christ? If that is the case, are we living by it? If we miss wisdom and understanding, the same kind of things will happen to us that happened to Solomon. We must not let anything cause us to miss the principal thing.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 6-8.