The Preacher gives a very interesting piece of advice in Ecclesiastes 7:11-12.  As usual, he gives us very practical information that applies to more than one facet of life.

“Wisdom along with an inheritance is good
And an advantage to those who see the sun.
For wisdom is protection just as money is protection,
But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.” (NASB)

A friend of mine had a marvelous advantage while he was going through school.  When he was born, his grandmother had set up a trust fund for his education.  He was able to use this to get through college, get a laptop and any other college-related needs instead of spending his own hard-earned money.  What an incredible advantage!  He finished school without owing a dime, and started his after-college life hitting the ground running, financially speaking.  He used his resources very wisely.

What if everyone had these kinds of resources at their disposal?  Wouldn’t they be crazy not to tap into that?  Most people have to start out at square one, building and building, often making mistakes and having to learn from them, and sometimes going back to square one.  There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as we’re willing to accept consequences and work hard to better our circumstances.  We learn how to handle our money, our marriages, our children, and we hope things turn out for the best.  But what if someone were to give us a leg up and whisper the secrets of success, protecting us from as many heartaches and bad choices as we’d let them?  The Preacher is giving us an amazing clue here!  Think of it this way:

A person who has money set aside before it is needed has protection.  There is no uncertainty as to how he will handle surprise situations.  He’s got a plan.  In the case of my friend, his old car died on him one day, but it wasn’t a problem because he had been working and saving up for a new car.  To my knowledge, he plans to use what remains of his trust fund to help make a down payment on a house.

LIKEWISE, a person who has heeded the instruction of wise people who have lived before him has a store of knowledge that protects him from the uncertainty of how to handle difficult situations in life.  He has inherited the wisdom of his predecessors, and he does not fear the future.  He simply uses what he’s gathered to his advantage, meeting the situation with a plan.

This puts forth a challenge to people, both older and younger:

How many young people (if they were wise with their money) could be spared the stress of financial struggles and having to start at square one if their parents and grandparents planned an inheritance for them to help them prepare for their future.

LIKEWISE, how many people (if they were wise enough to listen) would have fewer regrets in life and fewer fears for the future if their parents and grandparents had endowed them with knowledge, diligently seeking to leave behind a legacy of wisdom to help their children meet the future in readiness?

Let us all seek the protection of wisdom.  It is the legacy, the inheritance that we have been endowed with in God’s Word, in our elders and teachers in the church, and in our parents and grandparents.  There is no need for us to make every mistake in the book.  Get in the Word.  Talk to those older folks.  Listen to your parents.  There’s a store of protection in their knowledge that you can benefit from.  Tap into it – it’s to your advantage, believe me!

By Keeley Rollert
Keeley and her husband David are current students at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. They have been married just over a year. Check out her blog at http://wifeofapreacher.wordpress.com.