"500,000 Euros in a Broken Boiler" - by Rev. Weldon Bares

An article in the Wall Street Journal described a man in Germany who wanted to hide his money and so he stuffed over 500,000 Euros in a broken boiler in his home. When he was out of town on vacation, a friend fixed the boiler, and the entire amount was incinerated.

The man then sued his friend for the value of the lost money plus interest, but he lost the case. I figured out how much this actually was: 500,000 Euros comes to $521,000! He thought he was being wise, only to discover that he was not wise at all.

I don’t know what was behind his thinking. Maybe he didn’t trust banks. Maybe he didn’t want to report his income. But obviously, his thinking did not work out to his advantage.

Have you ever thought that you were so right about something, only to find out that you were not right after all?

The Old Testament book of Proverbs is filled with amazing wisdom, including this verse: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel.” (Proverbs 12:15)

The Apostle James wrote these words about wisdom: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)

The Bible promises that God will give us wisdom. We just need to ask, wait . . . and listen.