THE PRINCIPAL THING

MEMORY VERSE: They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Matthew 22:21

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 31

Proverbs 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” The word “principal” means first in order of importance; main. There are a lot of important things. One of them is knowledge. They have a saying in the secular world “Knowledge is power “. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” To destroy means to damage or to ruin. Hosea 4:6a says, “My people are destroyed (ruined,damaged) for lack of knowledge". This should give you an idea of how important knowledge is. Yet, the bible says wisdom is the principal thing. Another important thing is vision. The elders have a saying, “In the country of the blind, the one eyed man is their king.” In other words, it is better to have little vision than no vision at all because a man with little vision will rule over a nation of blind people. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” To perish means to die, especially in a violent way or sudden way. This definition summarises the importance of vision. Yet, the bible says wisdom is the principal thing.

There are several reasons why wisdom is the principal thing. For instance, you need wisdom to make difficult decisions. Two women, who had just put to bed, brought a very difficult case to King Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-28). While they slept, one of them rolled over her baby and the baby died. She picked the other woman's living baby and claimed it was hers. Mind you, at that time there was nothing like DNA test. Solomon ordered a soldier to divide the baby into two. The real mother begged the king to give the baby to the other woman because she didn't want the soldier to kill him.  The fake mother, on the other hand,  wanted the child to be cut into two at all cost. Solomon automatically knew who the real mother was and gave the baby to her. You need wisdom to avoid the traps of the enemy. In Matthew 22:17-22, some Herodians asked Jesus, "is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" They asked this question to trap Him. If He said it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, the Pharisees would accuse him of being against the Jews. If He said it was unlawful to pay taxes to Caesar, they would accuse Him of being against  Caesar and report Him. He deployed wisdom; He requested for a coin and asked whose inscription was on the coin. Matthew 22:21 says, “They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” Also, you need wisdom to get out of tight corners. The Pharisees brought a woman caught in the adultery to Jesus and said the Law of Moses commanded us to stone such women to death but what do you say (John 8:1-10). If He told them to stone her, He will be working against Himself because He came to save sinners. If He told them not to stone her, they would accuse Him of going against the Laws of Moses. He said to them, “he that is without sin let him cast the first stone”. On hearing this, they all left quietly. The real reason why wisdom is the principal thing is this: you need the wisdom of God to make heaven. Jesus is the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:24 says, “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” Jesus is the way to the Father (John 14:6).

PRAYER POINT: Father, please fill me with your wisdom. 

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world