I agree with Solomon - Part 2

The following wisdom from Solomon is contained in the Bible's book of Proverbs - Chapter 22, verse 1:

"A good name is to be more desired than great wealth,
Favor is better than silver and gold."

I don't know about you, but I sometimes dream about what it might be like to have great wealth. Truth is, I'm already blessed beyond imagination and very well-off by the world's standards. All of my family's needs are more than taken care of and they have been for a very long time (thanks to the Lord blessing us abundantly!). But, living where we do in the north Dallas/Plano area (and/or anywhere else in the United States?), it is sometimes hard for us to remember that. There's always someone (or lots of people?) who appear to have more "wealth" than we do.

I am oftentimes curious about those people who appear to have great wealth. What's that like on a day-to-day basis? What do they do with it? How do they manage it? What's does it feel like to have considerable material and monetary excess beyond what you really need? I wonder? Or, is this idea of great wealth only just a modern day fairy tale - an illusion based on tricks and debt? Is great wealth something that people dream about, but never really ever achieve? Hmmmm... I wonder.

Back to Solomon's words, they say that a good name was to be more desired than great wealth. And that favor is better than silver or gold.

May I remind you that Solomon did in fact have great wealth. He may have been one of the richest men who ever lived on planet earth! So, if he said something about great wealth, he was speaking from first-hand knowledge and experience. He actually had great wealth and knew what he was talking about.

But a good name? That's really better than great wealth? Seems way too simple, doesn't it?

A lot of us might be saying to ourselves about now: "Just let me try great wealth first and then I'll let you know if this guy Solomon knew what he was talking about. Let me experience great wealth for awhile and then I'll tell you if he was telling the truth."

Sometimes we can think we are so smart. Sometimes we can distort our very short lives here on earth, completely magnifying them way beyond their actual importance, to levels that are totally out of proportion. Sometimes we can think that what we are doing right now is somehow more significant than what has happened in all of history. Get serious. While your life is important to many people, and while what you are doing is somewhat significant for right now, very few of us will be remembered in history books 50 years after we are gone. Most of what we are doing and/or experiencing in our individual lives has been experienced before. Maybe numerous times. Don't kid yourself. You and I aren't the smartest people who ever lived. As a matter of fact, Solomon had a corner on that market, too. He was considered the smartest man who ever lived.

But, how much do you value having a good name? Is your name in fact "good?" What does that even mean? Good according to who? And what about favor? Whose favor is better than silver and gold?

I'll have to admit, I am a people-pleaser. I probably fuss more about what other people think about me than I should. Truth is, there is only one person that really matters when it comes to yours and my name being good. If we are going to fuss about anything, it should be about whether we are honoring the Lord of the Universe with our lives, and if others are giving Him the glory and honor He deserves based on our lives and actions. That would be our good name, if you please. Nothing else really matters much at all.

Do you believe that? If you do, what are you going to do to make sure that your name is good with the one who really counts? Whose favor are you going after? In the grand scheme of things there probably isn't anything more important than this. Think about it...

I agree with Solomon (again) - A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, and favor is better than silver or gold.