Yael Eckstein | March 22, 2023
Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills…” — Exodus 35:30-31
In Judaism, wisdom is something that should be sought, cultivated and taught — no matter what age we are. Enjoy this collection of inspirational thoughts and insights about this godly pursuit.
What does it mean to make a good investment? When most of us hear the word “investment” our first thought is about money. But if you think about it, everything we do in life is an investment. We invest our time, our energy, and our emotions into our activities, our work, our friends, and our families.
So how do we know if we’ve made a good investment? Well, the answer is pretty simple. A good investment produces the results we were hoping for, if not more.
What’s true of us is true of God, as well. God makes investments in us. Now, obviously God’s investments aren’t about money, time, or effort. God doesn’t need money, He lives beyond time, and nothing He does requires effort. So what does God invest?
Based on a verse in the Bible, the sages teach us that God’s investment is wisdom. The Jewish sages explain that God places in each and every human being a unique kind of wisdom — a talent or ability, a gift. What we do with our knowledge, talents, and abilities is His return.
God’s Investment Is Wisdom
When God told the children of Israel to construct a Tabernacle, the portable Temple in in the desert, God told Moses exactly who should lead the project. We read, “Then Moses said to the Israelites, ‘See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills…’”
Translated from the original Hebrew, this Scripture reads that God “invested” Bezalel with all the skills and wisdom he needed to get the job done. The Midrash, the ancient Bible commentaries from almost 2,000 years ago, teach us that even though Moses was the greatest prophet, he did not understand how to make the Tabernacle.
The wisdom needed to make the Tabernacle was God’s particular investment in Bezalel. Did this make Bezalel wiser than Moses? Of course not. And that’s a message for all of us.
God invests each of us with our own unique wisdom. This wisdom is perfectly suited to the mission that God has for us. It’s the wisdom to deal with the challenges that we, and only we, will encounter.
Your Turn:
Like the loving father He is, God invests in us because He wants what’s best for us. Let’s remember that God gave us everything we need. Now it’s up to us to be good investments for God!
