Wisdom Cannot be Given, Only Acquired…

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Written by Jimmie Burroughs Email this article to a friend

A godly, wise  and wealthy old father had come to the end of his life and wanted to once again teach is two sons a lesson in wisdom. He called them to his bedside and told them of the two greatest gifts which was love and money and he said that each of those could be freely given but there was a third which could not be given and was not easy to acquire. His sons who had been taught well by their father from their youth up were puzzled as to what the third one could be. They were familiar with 1 Corinthians, the love chapter of the Bible, which states that the greatest gift of all is love so then what could their father possibly think was greater than love.

The father then reached into a box beside his bed and pulled out a sheath of thousand dollar bills in one hand he held out one million dollars in cash and in the other was a penny. He then said, it is up to you to choose which you want. If you take the million dollars, it is yours now to do with as you please but if you choose the penny then my treasurers will double it for a full month of 31 days and the proceeds will then be yours.

Then he bid his sons to think on it for 24 hours and then return with their decision. The first son thought carefully on the matter as he returned to his room. The second son made his decision immediately. He decided to take the million dollars; it seemed foolish to take the penny doubled each day for 31 days; it seemed it would amount to little compared with a million dollars.

The first son, however, begins to think deeply about it although it also seemed that a penny a day was insignificant, he knew that his father was trying to teach a lesson. He thought it seems too practical to choose the million…there is no lesson to be learned there. So he decided that logic would be that the penny was the best choice.

The next day the sons went to their father and told him their decision. The first choose the penny and the second the million dollars. The second thought his brother was a sap for choosing the penny. He took his million and invested it and wound up a little short of a million by the end of one month. His brother watched his penny grow, slowly at first. In two weeks nearly half way through the month he only had $81.92. He really began to wonder if he had made the right decision but was determined to stay the course. Into the third week the amount had grown somewhat to $655.36. To his shock and surprise the amount had by day 28 grown to over a million dollars and day 29 to two and a half million and by day 30 it was over five million and then on day 31 it grew to $10.737,418.24. Which boy made the best decision and learned the lesson of the wisdom of compound interest.

A lot of things can be given freely: love, money and gifts of all sorts but wisdom can’t be given by any person, it can only be acquired. God does give wisdom to those who ask. God once asked King Solomon to ask what he would and he would receive it. Solomon asked for wisdom and God said, since you have asked for wisdom and not riches, I will give you both. Solomon is known throughout history as the wisest man and he probably was also the richest.

“Take my instruction and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest gold.
For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.”
-Solomon, 1000 BC

If wisdom is indeed the greatest treasure, how then can it be acquired? Unlike Solomon we are not likely to ever become the wisest person in the world. Since we are not the king over a vast domain, it is neither necessary but it is extremely important to the decisions that we make each day of which some can impact the rest of our lives. Learning to make wise decisions is a day by day process. It is good that we don’t have to make all the decisions at one time but just one at a time.

All major decisions should be thought out and not made on a whelm. For example, I once was on vacation in Hawaii and went to one of those hour long presentations in order to receive a free meal at a fancy restaurant. The presentation was on acquiring a timeshare on one of the islands. It was very impressive and the idea of coming to Hawse again each year was enticing. So my wife and I decided to sign up for it. As by Federal Law we had three days to back out if we desired. I couldn’t sleep much that night for thinking about the decision we had made and by the next morning I had decided it was not a wise decision. My wife agreed and so I canceled it.

That proved to be one of the wisest decisions I ever made. Not much over a year later my wife passed away. It would have been a burden to have had a timeshare to deal with and try to get rid of. I have since learned that timeshares are poor investments.

Sadly many very important life impacting decisions are made on the spur of the moment, primarily through the emotions and not the intellect. It helps to have a point of reference on subjects which we need to make an important decision. This is where knowledge complements wisdom. Wisdom however does not always require a point of reference; it is capable on its own to make the right decision.

Another example is a decision that young, just married, couples must make and that is the purchase of their first home. Many a young couple was influenced by eager Realtors to purchase a home that was far beyond their financial reach through creative financing. When the real estate bubble burst, many of them found that they could no longer afford a house that was worth half what they paid for it. So it meant starting all over again.

Wisdom would tell us to stay within our means and settle for that which is affordable leaving some money to save or invest. If we take the time to do our homework, decisions will be much easier to make and will be much wiser.

The more that we learn about wisdom and what makes it work in our life, the more capable we will become in making the right decision every time. All the information we need has been written in books and is available. Workshops, Webinars and websites like this one are also available. There is no excuse for continuing to make dumb, unwise decisions.

Love is indeed the greatest gift and wisdom is only greater in the sense that it chooses love...

“With patience and ease, in an unselfish and purposeful way, over a time period undetermined, and for a good that includes others, I intend for $1,000,000 to come to me and to others who join me in holding to this objective.” Jimmie Burroughs

Below are some of the articles I suggest that you read:

http://jimmieburroughs.com/?p=877

http://jimmieburroughs.com/?p=162

http://jimmieburroughs.com/?p=176


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Jimmie Burroughs is the author of JimmieBurroughs.com ; get more tips on personal development: www.JimmieBurroughs.com

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