Wisdom of the Ages

"She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her."

Proverbs 3:15



From time to time, each of us visit a restaurant or a deli where our mouth is treated with a fantastic meal that satisfies in every way. More recently, I've become addicted to a Japanese Miso Salmon served on a bed of white rice and Sake butter and garnished with snow peas. Ask me if I could eat it every night and you'd see the enthusiasm dripping from my face. The trouble is, a food overeaten is no longer a favorite.

We find the same challenge with music and television when a song gets overplayed or the same program shows up every night. If something we desire can be obtained at every turn, it ceases to be valuable. Even in Solomon's kingdom, where gold and silver were plentiful, rubies were not quite so common. They are among just a few "precious" stones in the world and gained their English name from the Latin word, ruber, meaning "red." While it is easy to quote that wisdom is "more precious than rubies," this leaves a gaping hole between what we read and what we accept. If wisdom is indeed "more precious" than a rare stone, then this ought to be an indication that wisdom is itself near impossible to find.

Who among us would dare say that we are wise simply because we know a few things? Knowledge is not sufficient to declare one's self wise. Quite the contrary, if you think yourself wise, then you must also think yourself more rare than a precious stone. Century after century, men have been proved to desire, more than anything else, what they cannot have. And if they get it, they cease to desire it any longer. This can be seen in our modern world when a young man finds a woman to love and showers her with flowers, dates, and moonlight conversations. Yet, after the wedding, the bride receives no more flowers, no more dinners, and no more fireside chats (It should be said that I find this post-wedding lifestyle among the most destructive factors in American society).

By some standards, the new husband can be said to have "captured" his prize and no longer have reason to vie for her affections. And as nature would have it, when he no longer desires his wife, he opens his eyes to others whom he cannot have. Desire is a beast of burden that plagues the flesh and the mind like an endless cycle (Ephesians 2:3). Consider the things that you desire right now. Make a list in your mind. Now go from item to item on that list and ask yourself what happens if and when you receive them. When you get the perfect car, what replaces that desire? When you find the perfect job, what replaces that desire? When you find the perfect spouse, what replaces that desire?

Truth be told, there is no perfect car, no perfect job, and no perfect spouse. Instead, we go after the things that we desire and when they show themselves to have flaws, our tendency is start going after something else. Alas, that endless cycle of desire proves that we need something more sustaining. Wisdom is among the most valuable things ever testified in the Scriptures. Rare are the men and women who find it, for they can hardly describe what cannot be "compared." In this age of grace we live, eternal life is a treasure we need not seek, for it is already ours in Christ, but wisdom requires our daily search. Remember that the rarity of wisdom is what makes it so valuable. Nothing is more precious to our walk.