Proverbs 3:16

There are many who desire to have a long life, and of course, riches. But they look for it in the physical realm. They look at extending their long lives through medical, dietary, physical exercise and security practices, but the end result is the life they are seeking to increase becomes the prison of its own making. They surrender their rights to enjoy what God created Where should they turn?  

As we are talking about wisdom and the benefits (Proverbs 3:1-26), one of the benefits is to have a length of days. There are two concepts of the length of days and I would say both are very fitting here. The first is the day itself seems to be more profitable. As such, the work that can be done is done and more. This was important in a time when everything functioned by the rising and setting of the sun. 

But there is a view of days being that of life. Those who have true wisdom, which can only come from faith in God, through Jesus Christ, will indeed bring a length of days, or  life itself. 1 Timothy 4:8 brings this idea to the forefront. 

It is through godliness, our life in this world, but this life will then move forward into the future. This same verse, when we look at it, does say that exercise does profit...a little. The benefit of this exercise will end when our physical body ends. Hence it is a little profit. Still some profit, but not as much as godliness which carries also into the eternal life in Heaven. 

But this is where wisdom brings this benefit. The wisdom that comes from God will give us this length of days that many desire but can only be had from God. But then this verse goes into the riches and honor that comes from wisdom. 

Here we find, again, that with wisdom, there is riches and honor. Riches, as we have been talking about from the perspective of gain from Proverbs 3:14, is worth much more than anything the world can give. The world has their own valuation system and this evaluation is not necessarily godly. This is why it is important for Christians to look at wealth in the myriad of ways it is presented in the Scripture. What we will find is true riches are based on the perspective of holiness, godliness and eternity. The physical state of wealth and this world are always placed on some of the lowest levels of life. As a Christian, this brings to bear the truth of Jesus' statement in Matthew 6:33. True wisdom tells us to seek for that which is permenant, not that can be lost. 

Now we have honor that is brought to bear. There are many who have wealth but no honor. Honor is a word that is translated as glory, honor, glorious, wealth, honorable, honored, great, gloriously. The most use is the word 'glory' by 152 times. The next biggest use is 'honor' by 28 times. The predominate view of this word is that of being positive. It can be negative but that is rare. 

How many pursue after honor only to have their personal life and existance be anything but honorable? Through Godly wisdom, honor can be had by those who wish to have it, but the key is to follow godly wisdom and understanding. This will completely change our view of wealth and honor, or it should. 

So, dear reader, do not try to build up wealth and honor apart from wisdom. It is futile. Instead, seek wisdom and understanding (as found in Proverbs 3:13) and then true riches, profit, wealth, and honor can be had.