by Louis Sacran

"For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased." Proverbs 9:11

This is one effect of wisdom that appears again and again in scriptures. Your quality of life as well as the quantity of life is increased through wisdom; that is obedience to God. We find many gifted “would be” heroes in the Bible, whose lives are shortened due to their lack of wisdom. Samson dies as a captive of his enemies due to the fact that he would not restrain his passions. Absalom, a very gifted leader, finds his life shorted because through pride and rebellion, he wanted to take that which he had no legitimate right to possess. King Saul who was also a gifted leader, through jealousy and rebellion finds his life snuffed out as he goes to war with his enemies. In the New Testament, Paul would tell children to obey and honor their parents, that it might go well with them and they might live long on the earth (Eph. 6:1-3). The list of these occurrences is much longer than this, but this is sufficient to illustrate our point.