March 8

Mar 8 - Today from Proverbs 8 we look at verses 10 & 11
"Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her."

Priorities. One can easily detect where another's heart is by observing their priorities. Priorities are directly related to values. This proverb reveals the greater value of wisdom. Wisdom is the application of knowledge, which is basically correct information from God's eternal perspective. If wisdom is a priority, then gaining knowledge becomes a part of that priority. We gain knowledge through God's instruction.
'Values' asks the question, "What is most important to me?" Once a person determines the answer to that question, the priorities are set in place. If wealth and the accumulation material goods are of highest importance, that person becomes a slave to mammon. If wisdom is of highest importance, one becomes a student of the Word and a true servant of the living God. In Luke 16:13 Jesus taught that "No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money (mammon)." It appeared that one might be able to - for His teaching was somewhat directed at the Pharisees who publicly were some of the greatest ‘servants’ of God. But in their hearts they served mammon. By studying their attitudes and the fruit of their ways, it was unmistakable. When they heard Jesus say this, they sneered at Him. Then He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." (Luke 16:15).
Many today still convince themselves that you can serve two masters. But if they look into their hearts and weigh their values, they too will discover that there is only one that takes priority. Remember the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18? He was very serious about inheriting eternal life. Jesus listed some articles of the moral law and the young man confessed that he was indeed very moral. Then Jesus proceeded to reveal the real heart of the problem. It wasn't a moral problem, it was a matter of priorities. Jesus told the young man to give his treasure to the poor and to follow Him. Suddenly the moral young man who did his best to keep the moral law discovered that he might not get to heaven after all. He couldn't part with his real master, mammon. We do not know if he repented later on and became a believer or not. That's not the point of this story. The point is, "What is your priority?"
Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 7:12, "Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor."
Jesus may not have asked us to sell all of our possessions and give the money to the poor. But He asks us to look into our hearts to see what our priorities are. What exactly is our first love, and how do we bear evidence of it in our own lives?