God's Wisdom for Navigating Life

by Timothy Keller

  A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth. (29:3)

  THE PRODIGAL SON. Proverbs gives us small hope that young people, having gone down the path to foolishness, can come back. Yet this verse is almost a miniature version of Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–33). The younger son in Jesus’ story was a fool. Rejecting wisdom and bringing sorrow to his father, he “squandered [his] property” on “prostitutes” (Luke 15:30). But in Jesus’ parable the two antithetical clauses become one—the companion of prostitutes becomes the son who brings joy to this father (Luke 15:22–24).

  How is such a turnaround possible? The answer is in Jesus himself. Jesus, like the prodigal son, was a companion of sinners and declared that prostitutes could enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 21:32). He became weak and despised, he stood in our place and took the punishment and the rod that fools deserve (26:3), so that he could forgive and draw the worst sinners and fools to himself. No wonder the cross is true wisdom but looks like foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18–25).

  Have you seen this turnaround? What brought it about?

  Prayer: Lord, we know of prodigal sons or daughters, either our own or a friend’s, whose foolish paths are breaking hearts. Give us a resolve to pray extraordinarily for them. Then use our prayers in our lives and theirs. Get glory for yourself and joy for us by bringing them home—not just into our families but into yours. Amen.

  Money and Work

  October 15

  I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. . . . The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it. (8:17–19, 10:22)

  WEALTH IS A GOOD. Proverbs is full of references to economic life. Although, as we will see, the dangers of wealth are great, nonetheless wealth is a great good. Wisdom’s self-control and self-knowledge, its ability to plan and to take advice, all tend to bring about greater prosperity. With me are riches.

  But 10:22 introduces the crucial factor of priorities. Painful toil connotes the life-crushing sorrow of overwork, of the craving for power and wealth that comes from selfish wickedness (10:3). God condemns self-wounding labor (20:21). The wise person does not do painful overwork but simply works hard and lets the blessing of the Lord determine how wealthy the work makes them. The fear of the Lord, the intimate relationship the wise have with God, is better than fine gold. Wealth is a great good as long as it does not become your summum bonum—your greatest good.

  Where in your life or someone else’s life have you seen what happens when we rely more on painful toil than on the blessing of the Lord for our money?

  Prayer: Lord, may I be neither envious nor disdainful, neither too overawed nor intimidated, by wealth. You blessed Abraham, Job, and David with great wealth but only as they put it second to faithfulness to you. Make me like them. Amen.

  October 16

  The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor. (10:15)

  PRIZE BUT DON’T TRUST. Half of the times the Hebrew word for wealth is used in Proverbs, we are told to prize it. Strikingly, the other half of the times the word is used, we are told not to trust it (12:27, 13:7, 19:14, 29:3, cf. 19:4).215 That remarkable, nuanced balance expresses the essence of wisdom’s approach to money. The great problem is that money can lead the wealthy to see it as their security, their fortified city, rather than looking to the Lord.

  But there is no reason to romanticize poverty, for it is a kind of slavery (22:7). Abraham was fabulously wealthy by the blessing of God (Genesis 20:14–16), as were Joseph, Job, and David. Accumulated wealth or large incomes are not evil in themselves. Yet of those to whom much has been given, much will be required. The rich are stewards of their wealth, not owners of it. And Jesus vividly supplements this proverb in his interview with the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17–31). There he shows us how easily great wealth can be our ruin as well.

  Where have you seen the lack of money having ruinous effects on someone? Where have you seen the abundance of money having ruinous effects?

  Prayer: Father, it is easy to be a Rich Young Ruler who trusts his money too much to lose it in sacrificial giving. But your Son was the true Rich Young Ruler, for his wealth was infinite, his sacrifice unimaginable, and all for us. Make us like him in our stance toward our money. Amen.

  October 17

  Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor. . . . All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. . . . The appetite of laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on. (12:24, 14:23, 16:26)

  HARD WORK. What are the factors that, in general, bring greater prosperity? The first is simple diligence and hard work. At one level, hard work is inspired by simple hunger, the need for the basics of physical survival (16:26). It is a perfectly legitimate reason we should get and hold a job—to eat—whether it is fulfilling or not (2 Thessalonians 3:10). If you don’t take the initiative to find work you choose to do, you will in the end find yourself doing work you are forced to do (12:24).

  But the deeper background behind work in Proverbs is the book of Genesis, where we see God with his hands in the dust (Genesis 2:7,19), creating a paradise for human beings in which work itself is one of the good things (Genesis 2:15). God is happy in his work, and we are made in his image. No wonder there is nothing more humanizing than good work, and no wonder God rewards it.

  Where in your life or someone else’s have you seen that unless we seek out work we want to do, we will be forced to do work we do not want to do?

  Prayer: Lord, I love, dread, and can’t live without work. It is an irreplaceable part of my humanity and yet something that now wears us down (Genesis 3:17–19). Lord, it is not work for pay, but only work for you—for your eye and your honor—that will enable me to work well. Amen.

  October 18

  Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. . . . Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty. (12:11, 28:19)

  INTEGRITY IN WORK. A second factor that can bring prosperity is work that is not just diligent but done with integrity. These texts warn about chasing fantasies but don’t say what they are. However, many examples are clustered in Proverbs around 28:19. Some ways to make money involve bribery (28:21). Others seek to make a profit mainly through sheer “stinginess,” an unwillingness to pay well or spend and invest at appropriate times (28:22). Other people use deceptive business practices (28:23) or exploit vulnerable populations (28:24) or evoke hostile opposition by being too ruthless (28:25). All these approaches are being pursued with real labor, yet they will lead to poverty.

  In modern books on business ethics, these practices are condemned as being “bad business.” They are, as Proverbs attests. But anyone who complies with ethical guidelines only out of self-interest will almost certainly fail morally. If the only motivation for honesty is fear, it is inevitable that you will be dishonest in those situations where there is no fear or possibility of detection. Christians know that, despite no fear of final condemnation (Romans 8:1), all things lie open to the eyes of “Him to whom we have to give an account” (Hebrews 4:13).

  Where have you seen these kinds of “fantasy” business practices? Have you used any of them?

  Prayer: Father, root out the motives of fear, pride, and self-pity that can make me dishonest. And make me as unlikely to believe lies as to tell them. Make me like your Son my Savior, who told and held to the truth to his own hurt. Amen.

  October 19

  Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by. . . . Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all
generations. (26:10, 27:23–24)

  HARD-NOSED REALISM. Wealth can come about through hard work, integrity, and hard-nosed realism. Forms of unrealistic work are described in 27:23–24, where we see owners who are out of touch with the condition of their sources of income (the condition of your flocks), perhaps because they delegated too much, or because they did not do sufficient research before making investments in new herds.

  Verse 24 goes on to warn against smugness, the belief that without staying in touch with changing realities, their wealth will simply endure. 26:10 is an interesting study in hiring practices. We all know that to hire a fool will be disastrous. It is like an archer who wounds at random because the devastation will be impossible to predict. But it is just as destructive to hire any passer-by, that is, to employ someone without performing due diligence. Don’t just call a person’s references; call her references’ references’ references to get an accurate picture of whom you are hiring. How striking is wisdom’s combination of assurance that only God is the ultimate source of abundance, along with the strong call for steely-eyed realism.

  Where have you seen this kind of steely-eyed realism practiced and rewarded?

  Prayer: Lord, you call me to careful, painstaking due diligence in all things, and then you assure me it is all under your sovereignty and according to your plan. Strengthen awareness in my mind and my heart for both the solemn charge and the wonderful assurance. I cannot work well without both! Amen.

  October 20

  Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank. . . . Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. (22:29, 23:4–5)

  SKILLFULNESS. Another factor that promotes economic prosperity is being skilled in [your] work. The word skilled here means experienced. This is not necessarily calling for everyone to be what today we would call a “professional” or “white-collar worker.” Rather, it is a call for excellence of workmanship. Housekeepers, for example, through years of experience can come to do excellent work and be in such demand that kings and queens will indeed fight to employ them (22:29). The Son of God himself lived in the world as what we would call a “blue-collar worker” (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3).

  Only a few verses after this paean to the craftsman is a warning to not trust your own cleverness—your own insights and skillfulness (23:4). What is the lesson? God wants you to value workmanship over success. He wants you to take enormous pride in work well done and give far less thought to how much money the work makes. This follows St. Paul’s admonition to do work excellently, looking to please God and not for the applause or reward of human beings. We are to “serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people” (Ephesians 6:7).

  Where in your life are you doing some task or work that is unrewarded or unrewarding? How can you use the wisdom of these verses to help you?

  Prayer: Lord, give me the wisdom to seek skillfulness, but not be taken with my own cleverness. Give me the discernment to perceive excellence, but not be enamored of pedigree and credentials. And with this wisdom, make me a better worker, to your glory and to the good of my neighbor. Amen.

  October 21

  Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow. . . . The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down. (13:11, 21:20)

  THE DANGERS OF WINDFALLS. The word dishonest translates a Hebrew phrase that means literally “money out of the air,” meaning wealth that comes suddenly rather than gradually. The warning is this: If you don’t grow wealth over years through diligence, vigilance, and skillfulness, you may not have grown the character and habits necessary to manage the money well.

  Children who inherit money without earning it often gulp it down, running right through it because they have not learned habits of self-control, wise management, and the virtue of delayed gratification (21:20). Young celebrity athletes or entertainers—and unusually gifted (and lucky) young people who have made fortunes in finance or technology—run the same risk. This proverb suggests that wealth be gathered slowly so that the character that greater assets require grows along with your wealth. If riches come quickly, assume that the money will make you lose your sense of proportion without help from many advisers (15:22) and from Jesus himself, who warned that wealth so distorts spiritual perspective that it requires God’s divine intervention to free us (Mark 10:24–26). Yet there’s much hope. “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).

  Have you seen the danger of windfalls play out in your life or someone else’s?

  Prayer: Lord, save me—and those I know and love—from prosperity, and especially sudden success or fame. What our society covets, your Word warns against. Let those among your people, who come by your Providence into more riches and power than the rest, receive a due sense of their heightened responsibility as servants before you. Amen.

  October 22

  The LORD detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him. . . . Differing weights and differing measures—the LORD detests them both. . . . Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel. (11:1, 20:10,17)

  WEALTH CAN MAKE YOU DISHONEST. Proverbs names several significant spiritual dangers that wealth brings. The first is this: Money has the power to corrupt your integrity. You might be a person of honesty and character, but in the presence of a lot of money, it is remarkable how many people will make compromises.

  In ancient times the seller might label a one-pound weight as two pounds, place it on the scale, and lead the buyer to pay more for the grain than he should. Dishonest scales refers to dishonest business practices. Jesus denounced religious leaders—men who should have been moral examples—for succumbing to the power of money by twisting the law to increase their profits (Mark 7:11–12). Today there has been an explosive multiplication of ways to hide from either customers or investors the information they ought to have, without which you can take advantage of them and exploit them. Money has never had so many ways to tempt you. Don’t be naive about its power. Wealth gained by fraud will never satisfy. You will end up with a mouth full of gravel (20:17).

  In your life or someone else’s, where have you seen the power of money to make us dishonest?

  Prayer: Lord, I can feel the power of wealth to corrupt me even when I do my taxes, or when I just don’t want to know how my bank uses my savings. Protect me from the small compromises and slow hardening of the soul that money can bring. Amen.

  October 23

  People curse the one who hoards grain, but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell. (11:26)

  BOTTOM LINES. 11:26 describes a man who, in a time of food scarcity, holds on to his grain to raise the price higher. This is not illegal. Yet this man is rightly being cursed. Why? Because he is acting as if the only bottom line is financial profit.

  If all we own belongs to God and is given to us only as stewards (1 Chronicles 29:14), there is always another “bottom line” in our financial dealings: the good of others, the good of the community. You can’t live without breathing, but no one wants to live just to breathe. And you can’t have a business without profit, but no one should be in business simply to make money. If business leaders choosing between two companies ask only which is more profitable—and not “Which company gives us a product that helps the town, society, and people more?”—they have been corrupted by the power of money, according to the book of Proverbs.

  Have you ever seen an instance in which the “bottom line” of the common good was chosen over profit—and not simply because it was thought to be good public relations?

  Prayer: Lord, give men and women in business—whether by conscience (Romans 2:14) or the regenerating power of the Spirit—the understanding and moral
conviction that commerce is not, ultimately, about profit. Amen.

  October 24

  “It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer—then goes off and boasts about the purchase. . . . Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor. (20:14, 28:8)

  MONEY CAN MAKE YOU RUTHLESS. Money can make you dishonest, but more often it makes you ruthless. 20:14 depicts a practice that many would call simply “sharp dealing.” A buyer bidding on an item publicly insists it is of little worth but privately reveals his knowledge of its true value. 28:8 assumes the teaching of God’s law to Israel, namely, that loaning at interest is proper if it is a business transaction (Deuteronomy 23:20), because both parties stand to profit, but you should not charge interest to a poor fellow believer who needed help just to survive (Leviticus 25:35–36). Jesus condemned those who legally but heartlessly “devour widows’ houses” (Luke 20:47). You must not make money by taking advantage of vulnerable populations.

  What we have in these cases is a heartless individualism, in which personal profit is put ahead of the good of others. Today the huge economic inequalities are the result of “not a market trend but . . . a new permissiveness, financial rather than sexual.”216 Money has the power to make you think that ruthlessness is just normal.

  Where have you seen the power of money to make us ruthless?

  Prayer: Lord, give us a conscience and concern for the vulnerable so that we don’t make a profit from the young by selling corrupting entertainment, or from the elderly people by selling useless products, or from poor people by selling them mortgages they can’t afford. I pray that you would move us to do justice as a nation. Amen.