Reading your Bible for Today October 18

October 18: Ecclesiastes 8:1-5

KJV Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 8:2
2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.

Devotion:
One of our quests which we often find ourselves on without thinking about it is to find wisdom... We hear about people who have done wonderful things and stand in awe of them, wishing we could do similar things. We look up to people who show wisdom and aspire to be like them in some way. But have you ever considered just what wisdom people have?

There is the wisdom to be able to calculate numbers without breaking a sweat; the wisdom to be able to write novels as if you are living the life within the story; the wisdom to be able to figure out scientific conundrums... but none of these are going to help you when you die. You could have some form of wisdom which can advance your career but falls short of helping anyone else. You could be the most intelligent mathematician on the planet but not be able to hold a conversation with a child about their fears at night.

Wisdom is a whole lot more than knowledge! Knowledge will get you far on earth, but nowhere afterwards. Wisdom is being able to apply what is important to everything in life and to allow others to see you can do that. Having knowledge in God's Word will allow you to know what is righteous. Having wisdom in God's Word will allow you to shine so that others can see where the wisdom actually lies – and that is not in you but in God.

Being able to apply God's Will and His Word in your life on an everyday level is something we all need to aim for because it will be at the stage when others can see God through us and our actions that wisdom is passed on. How can we expect to be able to attain such wisdom without directly consulting God and seeking it from Him? To make sure we do stand out from the crowd, we need God on our side; we need to separate ourselves from evil so we can do God's work and to let His light shine through us!

Points to Ponder:
Who do you look up to as being intelligent?

Does intelligence bring you any closer to God?