Wisdom rewards its trustees. Detractors end up with empty minds and emptier pockets. 

I wonder why people seem to shun wisdom these days. Is it because its pace is more ponderous and less exciting than internet offerings? An example: Proverbs 6:6 says, “Go to the ant, you slacker!” An internet search of the word Ant provides results including dictionary definitions, encyclopedia entries, descriptions of different kinds of ants, YouTube videos of ants, and instructions for exterminating ants. This is a lot of information.

Going back to Proverbs 6:6, I discover there is a simple, transformational lesson to learn if I dare. Perusing dozens of entries to an internet search and getting lost in one aspect of antdom or another completely misses the point of the proverb. We don’t need to know everything about ants to focus on the most important aspect of the illustration. 

Solomon wanted us to learn that we need to get up and go to work every workday. This daily discipline empowers us to provide for ourselves and others. This is wisdom. If we reject this wisdom, we will end up impoverished.

Wisdom benefits us. Endless information merely clutters our thinking and hinders our productivity. 

Wisdom expands. Laziness shrinks. 

Wisdom rewards. Carelessness loses. 

Wisdom builds up. Mockery tears down.

More wisdom, please. 

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I will work to the benefit of myself and others by seeking wisdom.

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Our Father, grow me in this grace of wisdom. Your wisdom unlocks insights and applications. It reshapes and renews my confused thinking and misunderstanding. It strengthens me for profitable work. It protects me from careless loss. Teach me what I need to know that will make me more fruitful and effective. Empower me to live a life beneficial to others. Amen.