Wisdom. Isn’t that what we really all seek? Deep down. We all want to be knowledgeable and use good judgment in all that we do. We want to make good decisions. We want to have awareness where we use our experience to make the right choices and to help others make the right choices. We want to be a wise partner in marriage. We want to be a wise parent. We want to be members of society to that people come to for advice and for help in solving problems. And we want that wisdom of heart, where we are so in tune with God that we are able to regularly choose right from wrong, even in the face of the most challenging of temptations.
We want this. We need this. We yearn for this. Deep down, I feel that every human being wants this level of wisdom – the type of wisdom spoken about in the first reading from the Book of Wisdom. A wisdom that will help us to lead loving and morally sound lives, a wisdom that we can leave with others, and wisdom that ultimately brings us into communion with God.
Jesus tells us how to get there. In the Gospel reading, Jesus tells the rich young man that he is lacking one thing. He asks him to go sell everything he has, and then follow Him. The rich young man cannot do it. He was so close to ultimate wisdom. He was doing everything right, except one thing – sacrifice. He was not willing to sacrifice his material possessions for Christ. To achieve the ultimate wisdom and grace of God, this man could not part with the things of this world.
The thing is? Would many of us? Thankfully God has not yet asked me to sell everything I have and follow him in blind faith. He doesn’t ask that of most of us. But I don’t think that is the point of this parable. God is not asking us to sell everything we have, drop everything we are doing and go follow Him. He knows that we need things like shelter, clothing, food, and transportation. And He wants us to have luxuries in life and enjoy life.
But what he does ask is that we renounce those things that are holding us back, and he wants us to follow Him in everything that we do. We sacrifice those material things that are keeping us from having the tightest relationship possible with Him, those favorite sins of ours, those vices where we get greedy and want more. Jesus wants us to be happy and to enjoy the good pleasures in this world, but it must be in the right perspective. God must be first and foremost in our lives, in everything that we do, and anything that stands before us and God we must be place second (or third, or fourth…), and sacrifice if necessary.
This is tough for us. But it’s through sacrifice for our Lord that we achieve His wisdom. This is where we so often fail, because we can talk the talk, but it is so hard to walk the walk.
You can look at any aspect in todays world to see where this is true, and how difficult it is to live a life of sacrifice. And I’m talking just a little sacrifice. In a world of “more” and instant gratification, how often do we sacrifice anything for our soul and the souls of others? Therefore when it comes down to sacrificing our personal wants or desires for a personal relationship with Christ, we so often fail. But yet, we think we’re getting wiser. We think just as we get older, and have more life experience, this means that we are wiser, right? This is what we think. But unless you have Christ guiding your life, it’s not the case. Our “experience” is a house of cards. Experience is not the same as wisdom – and there are many experienced people in this world who are not wise. And the devil knows this. Satan knows that if he continues to redirect us and entice us with perceived wisdom and distractions that we will truly fail to see and experience Christ’s truth – an experience that will truly lead to wisdom.
What level of wisdom will you achieve? Will you present a false wisdom, telling people to “do what I say, not as I do”? Or will you impart a wisdom of the heart – one that can positively impact and inspire others and is only achievable through a close relationship with Christ, through our faith, through our marriages and our families, through our personal relationships with others, doing everything in His name, and sacrificing all that stands between you and His grace?
