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##### Wisdom to Manage Goods Will Be Given to Heaven’s Merchants

{Proof That the Heavenly Trade is the Best Trade

The Terms of the Heavenly Trade

Wisdom to Manage Goods Will Be Given to Heaven’s Merchants}

Second, just as goods with which to trade are freely given, so wisdom to manage them will be imparted fully. This is a privilege that sellers on earth will not give you. You may have their goods at their price, but not instructions on how to use them to your advantage.217 But this great merchant in Heaven [God], along with His wares, gives skill to use them. “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go’” (Isaiah 48:17 NASB). “If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path” (Proverbs 2:4–9 NKJV). The person who seeks for wisdom’s wares will find both the wares and instruction on how to use them. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8 ESV). He will be eyes to the blind and feet to the lame (Job 29:15).218 In the Lord Jesus, one will find everything in this heavenly trade: goods, tools, skill, strength, and everything. “He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him’” (Isaiah 45:24 NKJV).

217This does not imply that printed instructions or advice from shopkeepers was not available in Ashwood’s time any more than now. But there are four limitations to such instructions. First, it is not in the seller’s best interest to minimize your consumption. For example, toothpaste advertisements typically show a fat glob extending across the entire bristle surface of the toothbrush, though far less is needed. Second, no seller knows you and your individual needs perfectly. Third, no seller is able to modify your body, mind, or spirit. By contrast, God knows everything about you and what is best for you down to the smallest detail. Fourth, God not only changes people for the better, but He gives the Holy Spirit to believers, imparting abilities that are fundamentally spiritual and supernatural.

218“I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame” (Job 29:15 ESV).

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