In Revelation 3:17–18, the Lord spoke to the Christians in the ancient city of Laodicea. The city of Laodicea was a financially prosperous multicultural marketplace city—very similar to cities today such as New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle, Calgary, and Toronto.
Because of the financial success enjoyed by the Laodiceans, there was a presumption of wealth, security, and independence. The Lord admonished them for their hubristic thinking. The reality is that they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
The Laodiceans believed that success was denominated in terms of money. Today we, for the most part, believe the same way. For most people money drives virtually every decision in life and is the universally accepted metric of success.
But money is temporal—when we die, we don’t take it with us (Psalm 49:17). Given that we are all under a death sentence—that is, we will all die, barring the return of Christ—then what transcends death? And how should we view money?
According to Luke 16:11, money is only a training tool to prepare us to steward true riches. My understanding of the above text is that “gold refined in the fire” is a metaphor for true riches. True riches come from God. True riches meet our real needs enabling us to prosper. The Lord tells us to look to Him to gain true wealth. It is true riches that should define success and become the driver of our decisions. But what are true riches?
Proverbs 3:13–14 gives us a clue to finding true riches. True riches are wisdom, not conventional wisdom, but wisdom that comes from God. According to Bible scholar Bruce Waltke, wisdom is the skill to live life well. To live life well in God's universe, we must live according to His rules. After all, since God created everything, He alone created all the rules. Therefore, wisdom is the ability to discern and obey God's rules. This is the only way to prosper and be successful.
Furthermore, wisdom is not something that you can buy with money; wisdom is imparted by the Lord over time through living in obedience to the Word of God (see Proverbs 8).
Don’t be deceived by thinking that money is the measure of success. Money is only a small measure of success. The real measure of success is wisdom from God. Wisdom from God is the essential ingredient that enables individuals and organizations to prosper and produce excellent value propositions. If you want real lasting success in life, make it a priority to pursue wisdom.
Here is your business tip: Invest money to discover and fulfill the will of God for your life and your organization. Encourage everyone in your sphere of influence to obey the Lord and therefore grow in wisdom. Invest in people who are seeking to obey the Lord, as they are the ones who will gain wisdom. Never let money stand in the way of your obedience to God’s will and your faithfulness to His values and principles. Be willing to sacrifice money to what is right. Always denominate success in terms of obedience to God. This will lead to wisdom
— true riches and lasting success.
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